Little Dandelion is the fluffy face of a fundraising campaign to support the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary, an Ōtaki-based refuge for rescued animals.

With over 250 hungry mouths to feed, the registered charity consumes towering hills of haybales, pellets, straw and complementary feed each week, alongside paying for preventative veterinary care for their rescued horses, cows, sheep, pigs, goats, roosters, bunnies, ducks, geese and many others. Alarmingly, the sanctuary’s income from their fundraising op-shops has collapsed during the Omicron surge with many volunteers away ill or isolating. Fundraising events have inevitably been cancelled, while Black Sheep have found themselves with even more tummies to fill.

The Black Sheep urgently needs to raise $10,000 to care for their beloved rescues - residents like Dandelion, who was discovered in a paddock surrounded by dead lambs. “She was wet with birthing fluid, and too weak to lift her head,” Kate Waghorn, the sanctuary founder, recalls. “We immediately picked up colostrum from our vet and got to work around the clock helping her survive. We’re so proud of how well she has recovered, now bouncing joyfully around the paddock with her companions.”

So the Black Sheep has launched “A helping hand,” a very special fundraiser that centres the lives of rescued animals. Stories and videos will be regularly posted to the Givealittle page to connect donors with the animals they are helping. Residents featured include Sirius, who was rescued as a tiny bobby calf from the slaughterhouse. “Male calves born on dairy farms are seen as surplus to requirements and treated as disposable,” Kate comments. “Fortunately Sirius was a very lucky little calf - he was brought to safety and hand-reared at the sanctuary. Now grown into a gentle giant, he lives with his best friends Iris, Struan and Rocky.”

Donations in kind are also welcome – from straw to plywood and gumboots. “It would be amazing if everyone could share the fundraiser link with their friends and family.”

If Dandelion, like her flowery namesake, could grant a single wish, it would be to raise $10,000 to enable the Black Sheep survive through this wave of Covid infections, sustaining their continued rescue work.

A helping hand for the animals - emergency feedraiser - Givealittle

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