As luck would have it, a Farm Sanctuary staff member had spotted the young bantam rooster walking down the street one day near her New York City home. She wasn’t sure where he had come from, but she guessed he might have escaped from a live poultry market in the neighborhood. Knowing the tiny chicken wouldn’t survive long alone on the streets, she gently captured him and called Farm Sanctuary for help

A short time later, Tony arrived at our New York Shelter. As you might imagine, it didn’t take long for this friendly, self-assured little rooster to make himself at home. He had to be isolated from the rest of the chickens at the sanctuary because of a bad case of leg mites, but that didn’t stop him from making friends. Instead, he grew to love spending time with his caregivers, and especially with a volunteer intern, named Alan.

Responsible for feeding, watering and cleaning up after the lively new rooster, Alan quickly became Tony’s best friend. Tony loved being close to Alan, and Alan went out of his way to spoil his new friend. Soon, the two were inseparable. Tony could almost always be found perched on Alan’s shoulder, and it was not uncommon for the pair to be spotted together in the shelter kitchen, with Alan doing the dishes and Tony enthusiastically clucking his support.

Alan and Tony made quite a team. So no one was surprised when Alan and his wife Jo, a Farm Sanctuary staff member, applied to adopt him. In February of 2006, they took Tony home to join their family. Once forced to struggle just to survive on the streets of New York City, Tony is now living in the lap of luxury in his adoptive parents’ spacious home, where he will be loved and cared for forever. No rooster could ask for a better life.