Rescue & Adoptions

2008 Featured Rescues

Ducks Discover Love, World of Possibility at New York Shelter

Ah, to be young and in love, and a duck at Farm Sanctuary! Pepino, Cilantro, Cebolla, and seven of their friends got more than they ever bargained for when they-once anonymous faces amid a sea of more than 600 neglected birds living on a farm in Massachusetts-arrived at our New York Shelter and instantly became the apples of one resident duck's eyes. With their new friend to guide them, these lucky ducks are wasting no time getting their feet wet and exploring a whole new world of possibility.

Discovered by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) and seized during what was one of the humane agency's largest surrenders to date, Pepino and company were barely hanging onto life at a Mendon poultry farm, where they and hundreds of other ducks and chickens being raised for meat lived among filth, waste and the corpses of fellow flock members who had succumbed to neglect.

The ducks and chickens, many of whom were malnourished and sickly, were taken to the MSPCA's facility in Methuen and treated for upper respiratory disease and other illnesses. As the survivors convalesced under quarantine with the MSPCA, Farm Sanctuary assisted with this critical rescue by helping place birds through our Farm Animal Adoption Network and, as soon as space opened up in our duck and goose barn, by offering permanent refuge to Pepino, Cilantro, Cebolla, and friends.

Charged with 10 counts of animal cruelty, the ducks' former "owner" now faces punishment for his egregious crimes. Meanwhile, the ducks are getting what they deserve too: a brighter future. Since arriving at our New York Shelter, in fact, the 10 girls we adopted are already getting along swimmingly-with no small thanks to Burton, a benevolent Moulard duck (a foie gras farm refugee taken in by Farm Sanctuary in 2007) with whom they instantly fell "head over webbed feet."

With their pal at the helm of each expedition, Pepino and the rest have yet to take their eyes off of Burton, following him this way and that, learning from him how to navigate their new environment and find a sense of home. All survivors of nightmares we can only scarcely imagine, the birds have already bonded for life, linked not only by their dark pasts, but, more importantly, their shared desire for comfort, happiness and the kind of companionship that makes the world a friendlier place.

Want to make dreams come true for one of these lucky ducks? Learn more about sponsoring a feathered friend through Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Farm Animal Project by calling 607-583-2225 ext. 225 or sending an e-mail to sponsorship@farmsanctuary.org today!