Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary

Adrian’s Story: Rescued from the slaughterhouse floor

Anne — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:12:16 +0000

Adrian

Rescue Story: Adrian, an ex-”meat” bird, was literally waiting in a crowded crate covered in a blood-manure mixture on the kill floor as each of these flockmates had their throats cut at local poultry slaughterhouse. In a random twist of fate, Adrian and seven other of chickens were granted a stay of execution. Within an hour, he was on sanctuary soil–a free bird!

Relationship Status: He is madly in love with Kitty the Hen.

Personality: Extremely serious demeanor.

Likes: Adrian loves when Kitty preens and pecks his face for leftover food or tiny dirt particles. He also enjoys watching the sunset over the Altamont Hills with his buddy I-Hop and Kitty.

Dislikes: The daily invasion of the Muscovy hens of “his” yard and the mere presence of Lance Pants the Bantam.

Dante’s Story: Narrowly Escaped the 2010 San Bruno Pipeline Explosion

Anne — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 03:57:02 +0000

Dante

Dante’s Rescue Story: Narrowly escaped the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion

Relationship Status: “Going steady” with Brooklyn the Red Star Hen for the last six months

Personality: Dante is a confident little man. He guards and graces the front pasture with the seriousness and regard of a solider. Beneath his feathered armor, Dante is a gentleman who is devoted to the love of his life, Brooklyn.

Likes: Walking on the sanctuary perimeter fenceline, eating Laverne the Hen’s daily soup and strolling around the sanctuary with his girlfriend in the evening

Dislikes: Maxwell the Rooster and visiting owls

Kitty

Anne — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 01:15:13 +0000

Kitty’s Story: Loves Donuts

This is Kitty the Rescued “Spent Laying Hen.” She loves people and vegan doughnuts. Kitty’s thievery story will make you both smile and understand chickens as intelligent beings:On a recent summer day, a small group of hardworking sanctuary volunteers sat down for an afternoon break to eat the coveted vegan doughnuts from Pepples Donuts. Kitty and her feathered friends were foraging around the picnic table with the volunteers that afternoon.

The volunteers were enjoying every single blissful bite of the doughnuts, when Kitty did the unthinkable. She jumped a foot in the air to grab the last remaining third of the very *last* doughnut in the box. Milliseconds later, she sprinted far across the grass. The stunned volunteer cried out in slow motion: “NOOOOOOOOO–my doughnut!!!”A doughnut recovery mission was next to impossible. Within five seconds of the petty thief incident, the maple doughnut was en route to Kitty’s crop.The intelligence of chickens is often understated. However, scientific studies have shown that chickens can anticipate the future, grasp cause-and-effect relations, and maintain self-control. Kitty’s recent doughnut-napping caper is proof-positive of chickens’ brilliant abilities.

Gertie

Anne — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 01:04:38 +0000

Gertie’s Story: A Founder of Harvest Home

Wise-old Gertie is one of the “founders” of Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary. Since the sanctuary’s establishment in 2004, Gertie has graced the green pastures and muddy puddles of our special plot of land for rescued animals. She is inquisitive and noble. Not to mention, Gertie’s boyfriend, Brandon, is about 8-years-old younger than her.

Chloe

Anne — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:11:33 +0000

Chloe’s Story: Ex-cockfighting breeder hen, rescued in the biggest seizure of cockfighting knives in US history

Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary is pleased to introduce you to Chloe the Ex-Cockfighting Breeder Hen. She found sanctuary at our rescue facility in Stockton, after a cockfighting raid in Tulare County June 12, 2012. The raid, conducted by HSUS and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department resulted in the arrest of two suspected cockfighters, the seizure of the largest number of cockfighting knives in US history, and the seizure of 388 hens and roosters. We are so thankful to be able to open our doors to Chloe, 4 other ex-cockfighting breeder hens, and a single chick – at Harvest Home, they will live out the rest of their lives in peace and friendship with other animals. This historic raid reminds us of the importance of helping animals in need every day. This photograph was taken moments after Chloe arrived at Harvest Home Sanctuary.

Watch the Fox40 TV news story about Chloe and her companions’ arrival at Harvest Home, and the record-setting cockfighting knife seizure in Tulare County.

Staar

Anne — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 01:59:08 +0000

Staar

Staar’s Story: Stray guinea hen

Staar (Yes–spelled with two A’s) is a Guinea Fowl. Animal Place found her as a stray in Grass Valley in summer 2011. Now, she lives at our sanctuary in Stockton with her infamous cohort Grandma. Their distinctive trilling calls can be heard across the entire sanctuary.

Tucker

Anne — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:15:05 +0000

Tucker

Tucker’s Story: Free goat on Craigslist

Tucker is one of Harvest Home’s founding residents! The co-founding humans of Harvest Home were on Craigslist and saw a post for a “free goat” who was no longer wanted. When they arrived to pick up Tucker, he was tied to a post out front.

Tucker rules the front pasture at Harvest Home and keeps the other boy goats in line…even though he is the shortest, smallest one! He has been known to try to keep the humans in line, too. Tucker is a playful goat with a mischievous streak.

Brandon

Anne — Wed, 30 May 2012 08:14:23 +0000

Brandon

Brandon’s Story: Rescued from foie gras production

Brandon was a victim of one of the most hideous forms of animal cruelty in modern animal agriculture: Foie gras production. Fortunately, he was among a group of rescued foie gras ducks who found their way to sanctuary at Harvest Home in 2011. In the first few weeks at the sanctuary, Brandon was frightened by humans and other animals. As time moved forward, he adjusted pleasantly to his new peaceful surroundings.

But Brandon’s new beginning at the sanctuary was hit by an unexpected blow. Suffering from poor leg health, Brandon began to lose the ability to walk, which is an unfortunate sign of breeding birds for profit-given rapid growth and heftiness, not longevity. It wasn’t long before Brandon could not walk at all.

Our avian vet diagnosed Brandon’s leg condition as osteoarthritis. Further, our vet thought he would not regain any movement in his leg and would need to be euthanized soon. We were devastated by this news.

With all Brandon had been through, we are not ready to give up. Instead, we developed a hopeful plan for rehabilitation. We nicknamed Brandon’s rehab regime “Operation: Walk for Life”, which included daily doses of pain medications, hydro-therapy and lots of green salads.

In the first weeks of rehab, Brandon’s mobility improved marginally. But, we were focused on the small improvements.

Approximately two months in to “Operation: Walk for Life”, Brandon was walking again. He proved the doctors wrong. It was amazing to watch a miracle unfold. Further, Brandon actually started to enjoy human companionship.

Today, Brandon enjoys life more than any duck we know. He forages on pasture, naps on piles of leaves and finds comfort living with the fourteen lady ducks of the sanctuary.

“Operation: Walk for Life” was a true success.

Pearl

Anne — Wed, 30 May 2012 08:06:42 +0000

Pearl

Pearl’s Story: Paralyzed, but calls the shots

Plagued by lower body paralysis, Pearl resides in the “human” enclosure of Harvest Home Sanctuary, where we keep a watchful eye on her. She sits atop fluffy fleece blankets as she acts as chief controller of the sanctuary. She calls the shots—no questions asked.

Sadly, Pearl’s partial paralysis, which is caused by the protozoan E. cuniculi, is an irreversible condition. Despite her limited mobility, Pearl has a fierce will to live. We support her in every possible way. Our goal is to keep her life enriched with activity and engagement.

Pearl is no stranger to human snuggles, personal spa treatments (i.e. grooming) and time in front of the television set. Pearl loves to watch Lifetimes movies on a regular basis.

Miss Pearl was surrendered originally at the Fremont Animal Shelter.

Mocha

Anne — Wed, 30 May 2012 07:58:10 +0000

Mocha

Mocha’s Story: Living lawnmower, went on the roof

A neighborhood purchased Mocha with the intent for her to be a living lawnmower for the brush in the Oakland Hills. After Mocha got comfortable, she started going on the roofs of the homes, and was no longer wanted.

At Harvest Home, Mocha loves her goat chow and greens, a scratch on the head, and roaming the pasture with her friend Selma the goat. She never goes on the roof.