Saturday 30 May 2015

Foal farm

The children have been asking for pets for many years, but I have held fast to my no. Not because I don't like pets, but because we are out a lot whilst I am at work so a dog is a definate no. Cats are a no as they upset  my asthma. Both children have been asking for about 2 years for a rabbit. In our previous home I said no because the gardden was so small there was barely any left to play on as it was.
I have to confess to coming around to the idea now we live here. So today I took Stephanie to foal farm an animal sanctuary around a half hour drive away (if you don't take a wrong turn- oops!)
They have a policy of never putting a healthy animal down and they rehome many different animals. I took Stephanie for 2 reasons, 1 so that she can see how much care is involved in animals and have a chance to see some in a more realistic than a pet shop environment. 2, so that she can see what happens if animals are not taken care of properly. She came home full of understanding of the enclosure we would need to properly take care of an animal so that it is happy, and determined to adopt an animal (or 2 as the rabbits are to be homed in pairs). So we are now on a mission to create the kind of enclosure we would like- kind of an aviary so they have space to play, and to raise the £80 rehoming fee.



Some of the cute rabbits that the sanctuary have for rehoming. Stephanie had my phone to take pictures as we went round. She also took some of these;
 They are the information boards which were read diligently as we went around the different animals. Stephanie was able to tell me lots of the key facts about rabbits during our drive home. So she really diud take notice of the sanctuary's advice,




There were lots of animals at the farm;


One of these cows apparently does star jumps in the field, but they were sleepy looking whilst we were there so we will have to go back another day to see if we can catch it!
If you are in the area it is definitely worth a visit to the sanctuary even if you aren't looking to get any new pets.


7 comments:

  1. What a great way to show your daughter the responsibility of owning pet, and a nice day out as well.

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  2. Well done you for using the opportunity to educate your DD. We're not animal people at all so we only have fish but I agree with the idea of adopting from a rescue centre rather than a pet shop.
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    1. When Dylan was small and I worked from home we had several pets; a rabbit, several guinea pigs (rescued) and a cat (before I developed an allergy to cats!)
      Since having Stephanie life has changed in so many ways- living in a tiny flat and working outside the home that we haven't been able to. Now that the children are older they are more able to take on some of the responsibility so I am coming round to the idea of getting them. I also feel a bit tight on Stephanie that she hasn't had the opportunities the same as Dylan did

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  3. You were very sensible in allowing the children to see what is involved otherwise the care would all fall on you.

    (Haven't been to around the Biggin Hill area for years. Last time was when a friend took us up in his Cessna and I was so sick that when he flew us back over our house I would have willingly done a parachute jump just to get out!!!!)

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    1. Oh how exciting your adventure sounds (except for the feeling sick) I have never flown but love the idea of it, a parachute jump has been on my to do list since I was a teenager- one day I will manage to do one :-)

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    2. That's the only plane I've ever been on - never been abroad! Can't do a parachute jump due to kidney transplant. Husband and son were about to book me on a hot air ballon flight a few years back - then one crashed into a power line ! Keeping my feet firmly on the ground now!

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