Book fair

HUHA – Helping You Help Animals Charitable Trust

**FUNDRAISING BOOK FAIR**

BOXES and BOXES of Children’s books + plenty for grown ups too!

End of line stock, ex-samples, nearly new

Great ideas for Christmas stocking fillers.

Come and see the huge range available on:

Saturday 29^th October 9.30am - 4pm

Main Road, Waikanae

(old fish’n’chip shop next to Subway - please do not block spots allocated for neighbouring shops)

To donate extra books for the book fair

please contact Sam on 06 364 3317

RIP Charlie

Our beloved ex-circus monkey Charlie passed away Friday the 16th. He had heart disease and compromised lungs. His body was shutting down and it got to the point where we had to make a call. Charlie was a big part of the sanctuary, there is now a huge hole where Charlie was. We are very grateful we had the opportunity to give Charlie a nice peaceful retirement.

Charlie was special. We walked him up to see his bunnies in his outdoor enclosure every nice day. If Charlie was ever upset he would bite his own knee, he didn’t like making eye contact or having his photo taken, he would turn his back to the camera. Charlie loved Jim’s rice risotto; he would shove big handfuls into his mouth. Charlie really was one of a kind.

We have started putting brushwood up around the Hawk enclosure (they are loving the extra privacy), planted more flax, trimmed hooves and groomed the horses and ponies. The whether has been fantastic for it and it is meant to stay nice for a few more days. We have opened up Laurie’s (the monkey) enclosure; he and his best friend Jungle (the cat) now play with the giant bunnies, Jelly and Bean, who lived with Charlie.

We will be at the Wellington vegetarian expo this Saturday the 1st of October. It is from 10am to 4pm at St John’s in the city (corner of Willis and Dixon Street). We have HUHA tee’s we will be selling. Hope to see you there.

Spring is here

It has been a while since my last blog; we have been busy rehoming dogs, cats, hens, donkeys and sheep. We still find the time to plant flax at the sanctuary and keep up with the general maintenance. On top of all this we have been caring for our sick monkey Charlie.   

Our ex circus monkey Charlie has been very unwell. He is 42 years old and his breed has a life expectancy of about 28. Charlie has been up to Massey for test. He was anaesthetised for a CT scan, blood test and X-Rays. Charlie has an enlarged heart plus he had an infection in his spine. He is now on heart medication and he had a course of antibiotics and pain relief for the infection. We already knew in the back of our minds we don’t have a lot of time left with Charlie but hearing it from the Massey vets was very upsetting still. I guess ignorance is bliss. Charlie is a big part of the sanctuary; he has been with us for nearly 6 years. On nice days we walk him up to his outside enclosure to spend the day with his giant bunnies Jelly and Bean. Charlie sleeps inside his little house with lots of straw and a heat lamp. Despite having heart disease Charlie can still make it walking up to his outdoor house and he can still climb up on his favourite spot.

The hens we rehomed are ex battery hens; they came to us naked (plucked feathers) straight out of the cage. They have all gone to a fantastic new home where they will live a happy life cage free!!! The hens are only about 18months old, they are considered old and time to be replaced in the egg and chicken industry. One of the HUHA trustee’s Sam, is our ex battery expert. In the past 2 weeks Sam has rehomed 100+, making our 10 sound a little pathetic :-). The hens need to be rehabilitated after living in a cage; you can’t just set them free. Sam rehabilitates hens all the time, if you are in the market for rescued ex battery girls please contact us.

When the two white donkeys, Polly and Anna, came to us they had the longest hooves we had ever seen! Their hooves had been badly neglected for a long time. They were timid and very unsure about us. It has been really great watching them grow and get more confident and trusting. We will miss Polly and Anna, they are very special donkeys. I say that about all of our animals, and I mean it about every single one, Polly and Anna really are great. I still remember how hard it was getting close enough to just pat them when they first came. I am so proud to say they are in great condition, their hooves look amazing and they are now social donkeys. Polly and Anna really do deserve their brilliant new home.

Our sheep Yahoo and her friend have gone to a great home in the Kapiti coast. Yahoo is a funky looking sheep with a lot of character. They are quite active and social, love to run and play. They will be very happy in their new home.     

We have taken on a gorgeous little kitten named Licorice. Instead of putting Licorice to sleep he was surrendered to us. The poor wee man was hit by a car and completely shattered the bone in his back leg. We have had his leg amputated and he is on the mend. We have photos of Licorice on our Facebook page.

Sophie the baby goat is ready for a new home. She has grown so much; she is too big for her cute jerseys, not to mention she kept getting holes in them. Sophie still likes cuddles and to play, she is also such a good helper around the place. She keeps me company while I plant flax and move concrete pieces at the top of the driveway. Sophie is looking for a new home where there are other animals that she can make friends with and a nice big area that she can explore. If you are interested in adopting Sophie please contact us for more information.  

We have planted more flax plants. One side of the front boundary is complete, and we are half way down the over side. Hopefully we will finish planting this week. Then all that will be left to do is watch them grow. Spring is here, yay, our next project is the veggie gardens, they need to be ready for planting as soon as it is warm enough for seeds to germinate.  

We don’t have many Christchurch dogs left. The HUHA team has done such an amazing job. I am of course biased but I think we are just fantastic; we all have our strengths and we do a thorough job. Well done to Carolyn, Angie, Sam and Vari for all your hard work and dedication with this mission.   

Snowed in!

Our movie night was a few night ago. It was a lot of fun. We had a great turn out despite the bad weather. The movie was good and we put on really yummy nibbles. Thank you to every that came; I hope you had just as much fun as we did!

What incredible weather the country has had! The sanctuary was snowed in for a couple days. Carolyn and Jim had to get towed home by a snow plow after the first down pour of snow. The sanctuary had no power or water! The animals were all fine; they all had shelter, heaps of food and most important heaps of straw for warmth. Charlie the elder ex circus monkey, has a heat lamp in his house, of course with the power out he only had straw! Don’t worry Carolyn and Jim were up all night boiling snow for his hot water bottles!

The next day the snow was so deep Sophie the baby goat couldn’t go outside, the snow was too deep! Norm the big beautiful mastiff managed to cut his leg, it was a good cut too, went through 2 tendons and a vein! Carolyn and Jim had to take Norm on the quad bike to the main road where they had arrange for a 4wd and snow plow to meet them. Norm made it to the vets where they stitched him up straight away! He is good as gold now.

Everything is back to normal at the sanctuary, the snow is nearly all gone and everyone is looking fat and happy. We are still busy rehoming cats and dogs and rescuing donkeys. HUHA teamed up with Horsewatch to rescue a gorgeous donkey from a life a pain brought about by ignorance. Her hooves were grossly neglected and as a result she suffered with abscesses. She was listed on a trade me auction which means whoever won the auction could have her no questions asked! This new HUHA addition is a sweet girl who is now safe in a foster home and will be ready for a permanent home in no time.

Goodbye Polly and Grunt

This week 2 more pigs have been rehomed. Polly and Grunt have gone to a great home where they are getting a lot a tummy tickles and love. I am going to miss those two beautiful girls. They were great fun to have around here. Both Polly and Grunt love to tootle up the driveway with their friend Elvis, help me  load the Ute with the daily feed and then tootle back down behind the Ute. They are very clever, I only just discovered last week that they will sit for an apple. Polly did it when I was loading the Ute with apples. The other day Polly was very busy running around gathering straw and bailage to make a comfortable bed for her and Grunt to spoon in. When she had finished and it was looking good enough for even me to sleep in she went and slept somewhere else. They are both real characters, I am very happy they have found a great home, they really do deserve it.  

Sophie the baby goat is doing very well. She still follows me everywhere, she loves coming up with me to feed the monkeys. There is a big bank she loves to run up and down. Sophie also comes with me on the quad bike to feed Mabel and the other cows. I have been tucking her inside my jacket, however I am getting the impression she thinks she is big enough to stand on the back. I will try it tomorrow; see if she can handle my driving :-). Sophie is very cuddly and affectionate, whenever I am sitting down she is either trying to jump on my back or  is sitting on my knee for cuddles.   

Our elderly one winged Hawk, Steve, has passed away. We still have Steve’s 2 girlfriends rehabilitating in our care. One looks as though she might be ready to fly again soon, it is very exciting, I love when we get to set them free again.   

We have a new Kereru and seagull rehabilitating. We picked them up from the Wellington Zoo. Both are eating very well and have settled in nicely.          

That is all for this week, keep an eye out for next weeks blog.

Bowzser’s extreme make over - home edition

We have had a couple of days of nice weather this week, so we quickly got the paint brush out. Bowzser’s house has now had a makeover. Okay it isn’t an extreme makeover, just freshly painted. Bowzser is one of our cats, she loves the outdoors. Her house is a cosy warm box attached to Carolyn and Jim’s house. It is in a great central location with a great view of the monkeys, in a quiet area. Bowzser is such a sweet cat; she loves to have a cuddle before she comes up with me to help feed the monkeys.  

We also have a new piglet, in fact she came to us a couple of months back when she was lost. We were able to reunite her with her worried owners. However, she was surrendered to the Upper Hutt animal control last week and past on to us. She was back living with her old room mate, Griz (the bunny). She is very friendly, loves attention and of course very cute, she comes running over to us for a tummy tickle. She has gone into a fantastic new home with another KuneKune we helped rehome.      

Sadly Penelope Sweet Pea pasted away last Friday night. We were very upset. Penelope loved tootling around the paddock eating grass and sleeping in the sun. When she came to us she had diarrhoea and a skin infection. The diarrhoea was much better and she was eating very well. It was a real surprise and I really was heart broken when Carolyn told me. Penelope was simply happy and content tootling around, she was very calm and well very sweet. I have buried her in a very nice spot on the way up to the monkey enclosure.

We have another baby goat, her name is Sophie. Sophie is great; she follows me around the sanctuary. Sophie even helped me clean out Jelly and Bean’s (the two giant bunnies) house and run the other day. She also helped plant more flax. Sophie is very much a playful baby goat, she loves to run, jump, frolick and get into things.

We have two more puppies looking for homes. They are gorgeous 16week old huntaway x heading dog. These two are not from Christchurch but just down the road from us. The previous owner refuses to get her dogs desexed, she thinks dogs won’t work as well if they are desexed. This is of course just an old wives tale and not true at all. Having a uterus does not affect the way a dog works. Not to mention they only have a lifestyle block not a large farm. We have offered to help get them desexed, even pay for it, as this is not the first time we have had to help rehome dogs in the past. The pups ending up with us because a member of the community saw a trademe auction saying the pups will be put to sleep unless someone takes them. The previous owner had a two week holiday booked and didn’t want to find care for the pups. The concerned member of the public stepped up, she took the pups told us about the trademe auction and asked for help. There is always ignorance out there, it is about educating people. Don’t worry we are still on the case trying to get the dogs desexed. They have kept a female pup so we will continue to work hard making sure the pup doesn’t have puppies herself.

It snowed at the sanctuary! We had 2 days of thick snow. It was so magical, to see photo’s check out our facebook page. The animals loved it. The horse were rolling in it, running and playing up and down the hills. The dogs were playing, face planting and rolling as well. Piggy Sue was trotting around with a big smile. The only 2 that weren’t coping were Munchkin and Mary Ann our beautiful goats. I set them up in a nice shelter with heaps of straw for warmth. The next day they were very happy, both came out the check out the snow. Munchkin even helped me feed out.  

Fairy Prions

Wow what a full on past few weeks it has been. 50 Dogs, 6 hens and 5 roosters we have brought up from CHCH to be re home here in Wellington. Most of the Dogs/puppies are in fantastic homes and the other few are in great foster homes waiting for a permanent home to come along. These are all very nice, special dogs that have been through so much, with all the earthquakes and saying goodbye to their families. Due to the earthquake damage lots of people are forced to move and cannot take their beloved dog. As you probably can imagine it is very difficult rehoming dogs in Christchurch and all of the animal shelters there are full. The first trip we brought back 24 dogs/pups with just the HUHA truck, second trip two weeks later we brought back 26 dogs/pups. On the second trip as well as the truck we loaded Vari and Taylor’s van. HUHA has now helped 120 CHCH animals find new homes. Check out our website or facebook page to see photos of our incredible CHCH dogs, remember we still have a few looking for the right home.   

The amount of support we have received is overwhelming. Thank you everyone for the emails, donations, and offers to help. We couldn’t have pulled it off without the support from the community.    

We have also managed to re home a flock of sheep to a very nice permanent home in Upper Hutt, fix some brush wood fencing that had come down near the monkey house, and rake the paths! The sanctuary is looking great (except for the mud).

Last weekend I picked up a very sick goat from someone who found her on the side of the road in Makara, she would have only been a couple of weeks old. She was very sick, couldn’t stand or eat, I had to syringe feed her. Sadly she didn’t make it; I had her for about 3 hours before she died.  
We have a new goat as of last Thursday. She is very bright and drinking milk very well and loves grass. I have named her Penelope Sweet Pea. She too would only be a few weeks old. Penelope is staying at my house for a little while. She has already worked out how to jump up onto my bed and she loves exploring in the garden tasting everything there is to offer.      

On top of the rehoming of CHCH dogs we have also rehomed a dog from the Levin animal control. He is a very relaxed calm dog that has found a fantastic new home. His name is Pete; he is a 14 month old Malta-doodle. Pete is very lucky, the day after we got him, he became very sick, and he came down with a very nasty bug. We had him on fluids and antibiotics. He is good as gold now and has even been desexed. He has settled into his new home very nicely.  

This sudden bad weather we have had and the tornado in Kapiti has cause a lot of Fairy Prions (sea birds) to wash up on shore exhausted. They are dying all along the Kapiti Coast. The wonderful community (including HUHA) worked together to rescue these poor little birds. They were taken to the very caring staff at the Waikanae SPCA to be crop feed and then later given out to places that can care for them. We were given just over 300 to care for. All of these birds needed to be crop fed a special mixture of food twice a day. It was a lot of work, once we finish the morning feed we have to start the evening feed more or less straight after. When we first heard about this Carolyn and I with our favourite photographer Jo Moore rushed out there. On the way to the Waikanae SPCA we stopped at Pukerua Bay and walked maybe 1km down the beach to see if there were any still alive. We must have walked past around 500 birds already dead and only found 2 still alive. It was absolutely devastating. The one I found died shortly after in my arms. The one Carolyn found was taken to the Waikanae SPCA for some intensive care. It really did break our hearts to see so many dead and others struggling. The weather yesterday was beautiful and the forecast for this week is good. Carolyn and I got a lift on the Kapiti Coast guard boat and released 199 that were waterproof and ready. It was great watching them fly and swim away. We still have another 20 back at the sanctuary that were too sick to be released just yet, as soon as they are waterproof we will take them back out and set them free.   

We are doing a movie night fundraiser. The movie is ‘Billy T Te Movie’. It is a preview screening on Wednesday the 17th August at 6.30pm, arrival from 6pm, at the Lighthouse cinema in Petone. Tickets $20, nibbles provided and there will be a great raffle on the night, for tickets please contact me on 021 032 0974 or 04 526 3630 or mclean.c.f@gmail.com.

Off to CHCH again

Carolyn and Jim head down to CHCH today in the truck. They are picking up dogs and puppies on Saturday morning and will be coming straight back, arriving Sunday morning. I am staying here to run the sanctuary and organise everything at this end. I will be checking out new homes and foster homes so the dogs/pups can go straight into their new families.    

In other news, one of our board members, Sam and her husband Wayne stayed up all night on Peka Peka beach guarding a young wayward Emperor Penguin from idiots. They even got together with the community to set up a roster so this penguin can holiday here safely, without getting chased with sticks!!! Hopefully he is only here for a short holiday before he returns to Antarctica.

Back at HUHA, we have planted more flaxes along the front boundary. I had to replant the ones I put in last week because either they were trampled or I didn’t do a very good job planting them the first time.... They are all looking good and planted correctly now. We still need more flaxes for the front boundary, I have only done one side (the shorter side) of the driveway.  

We have moved our rehabilitating seagull to the new aviary. He was living next door to Griz (who by the way is a very nice bunny with a lot of character). The seagull was there next to Griz to rest, now he is ready to practice flying in the bigger aviary. I have improved my bird perches in the new aviary, they now have more levels.

The Ute is getting repairs done, so we have been using the quad bike for feeding this past week. It is much slower but fun hooning up and down the driveway with Munchkin following behind. Yesterday I had Wilmar the pig and Weeone the donkey (who sneaked out when I had the gate open for just 2 seconds) following behind me, it was really nice. Despite all the fun hooning, I am looking forward to getting the Ute back, it makes feeding out much easier.  

We still have rescued cats, donkeys, cows and pigs looking for new homes. Remember to keep them in mind. They would make a lovely addition to your home.   

Help CHCH dogs

We just had a call from Dogwatch in CHCH they are overwhelmed with calls from people needing to rehome their dogs. There is no more room at the shelters and many families are choosing to put their pets to sleep. HUHA is committed to getting as many of these dogs as possible up to the North Island and into fantastic, safe new homes. If you are able to adopt or foster a pup or dog please contact us ASAP. We are also setting up food banks, if you are in a position to donate or set up a food bank that would be greatly appreciated.  
contact@huha.org.nz
04 526 3630 HUHA
027 441 6474 Carolyn or
021 032 0974 Cherie

Eva's Attic

We have started to plant flax plants around the boundary, kindly donated by one of our biggest supporters (my mum). They are already quite big and they shouldn’t take too long to grow huge. We have also planted more pittosporums but they are only little.

Sadly some of rehabilitating patients have died. One of the seagulls, our more pork and hedgehog. These animal come to us because they are wonky (sick or injured, sometimes both). Sometimes there just isn’t anything we can do.  

We have successfully released 2 Kereru and a seagull. We still have 1 Kereru and 1 seagull in our care. We took the seagull to Petone beach where he flew away.

Today I was driving down Taita Drive (very common street for animals to get run over) and saw a dog on the side of the road. I turned around because the side of a road is no place for a dog. He had been hit by a car! Someone who heard the bang did the right thing by calling the SPCA, the dog was in a very serious state I got Carolyn to cancel the SPCA inspector and I took him to the after hours vet clinic. He was an entire male pit bull with no collar or micro chip, just wearing a red scarf. He was very pale, couldn’t stand and his breathing was laboured. Despite our best efforts his condition worsened, he started coughing up a lot of blood, and screaming in pain. He was trying to die, we had no choice but to put him out of his misery. It was very sad but I was with him until the end. I hate that people don’t stop when they hit an animal, there is no excuse for it  

For those who don’t already know we get regular donations from Eva’s Attic. Eva’s Attic is a premuim pre loved clothing store in Wellington. It is fully manned by volunteers and all proceeds are donated to FIVE charities. Carolyn works there every Friday, I am the volunteer coordinator and we have another HUHA volunteer there on Wednesdays. We are always looking for more volunteers to help at Eva’s attic, let us know if you are interested 526 3630. 

My day at HUHA

 Guest blog by Clarissa Chandrahasen

The first I heard of HUHA (Helping you help animals) was through my friend Cherie, who has been a vounteer at the Kaitoke-based animal sanctuary for about 9 months. I asked her one day if I could come along and check it out. Cherie was happy to indulge my interest, so picked me up at 9.30 on a sunny Tuesday morning and we headed out to Kaitoke. We stopped along the way at the supermarket to pick up a trolley-full of leftover bread for the animals.

After arriving at HUHA, a gang of roosters rushed to meet us, scrambling for crumbs as we unloaded the bread from the boot of the car. Also keen to say hello was Munchkin the goat, one of Cherie's favourite sanctuary residents. I gave her a polite pat but the sight of her horns made me question if we would ever be close friends. Munchkin followed along behind us as we headed to the emu paddock. The emus, Wirimu and Weemu, were very friendly chaps and skillfully plucked bread from my hand without getting my nervous fingers.

Next in line for our attention was Charlie the monkey, a retired circus performer. At 42 years old he's a grandpa by his breed's standards. Walking him up the hill to his outdoor enclosure was slow-going - the old guy had to stop every so often to catch his breath. Once at the enclosure it was feeding time for both Charlie and Laurie, a feisty Capuchin monkey. I was surprised to see Charlie shares his enclosure with two giant rabbits: Jelly and Bean. Cherie insists the two species are friends, but Charlie's boisterous rough-housing with the two rabbits made me think "with friends like that who needs enemies"!

It was time to jump on the quad bike and take a big slab of silverside and some roadkill to the injured hawk enclosure. Whilst the slab of meat looked juicy and delicious, I wasn't sure how excited the hawks would be about the roadkill - a dead hedgehog - it's surely the hawk equivalent of brussel sprouts.

More quad bike riding took us down to the cow paddock where I met Mabel, mini-Mabel, Woollybully, and No-Name. We scattered some hay for them to tuck into and I tentatively gave Mabel a few pats.

Next Cherie took me groom the ponies and she also introduced me by name to most of the ten or so pigs on the property. The most impressive of all was Piggy-Sue, a ginormous sow-stall survivor. The story of her gallivanting on the grass for the first time after 5 years in a stall was pretty moving, and made me question my consumption of pig meat. If animals like Piggy-Sue have to suffer, bacon just doesn't seem worth it.

By now the midday sun was blazing hot, and we grabbed a shovel each as Cherie had some tree-planting planned for us. I had told Cherie I didn't mind getting my hands dirty, so she held me to that! Soon our planting was done, and so was my day at HUHA.

But we had one last task to do - this time down at the Petone foreshore - the release of a recently-recovered seagull. Cherie opened the box and out jumped our survivor. To check that his flying ability was back, Cherie gently chased him along the beach a little until he took off, and that was that. He soared out over the ocean until we couldn't see him anymore. "That's my favourite part of the job," said Cherie.

Roosters

We have 3 new rescued roosters from our friends at Dog Watch CHCH. It is so sad how roosters get dumped. A lot of the time it is because people are trying to be green and animal friendly by producing their own eggs. They get either a litter of young babies or they let a hen breed. Of course they end up with some roosters, which no one wants. They release them on the side of the road to fend for themselves. What they don’t realise is that the roosters are either to young or domesticated to sufficiently look after themselves. They quite often come to us thin and covered in mites. We have over 60 rescued roosters! We get asked all the time how do we stop our roosters from fighting. That is simple, our roosters don’t fight. In fact, roosters tend not to fight under the right conditions, our Roosters have plenty of space, food, and shelter, there is no need to fight or complete.  
If you or someone you know would like to produce your own eggs, that is great, get an ex battery hen. They are so friendly, you know it is definitely female and most importantly you are saving a life! We rehabilitate and rehome ex batteries all the time, our board member Sam is very good at it. Let us know if you are thinking about getting hens, hopefully we can help.   

We have 3 new seagulls and a hedgehog. All 3 of the seagulls are eating very well but 2 aren’t flying. They have been examined by a vet and put on bed rest for a couple of weeks. The one that is eating and can fly will get released at the beach as soon as he puts on a bit more weight. The hedgehog has a weird eating pattern, he will pig out one day and not eat the next. It maybe just because he is getting ready for hibernation. He came to us covered in mites and with a burst abscess. The abscess is looking good and the mites are gone, yay.   

Last weekend we rehomed one of our rescued cats, Sally. She has gone to a lovely home where she will be very happy and spoilt.  

Griz our newest bunny has settled in very well. He is inquisitive, likes to explore in his big run and he lets us pat him. He seems to love his new lifestyle out of the petshop.

We have successfully reunited a very cute lost piglet with his very worried owners. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to take a picture. He was staying with our bunny Griz, it would have made a great photo. 

Cecil and Cleo update

It is just a quick blog this week. I want to let you all know how well Cecil and Cleo are doing. They are walking very well and their wounds are also healing very nicely. They are even starting to regrow their feathers. They have lots of supervised outside time and Cecil gets to sleep inside. Cecil grew up inside so he loves it, whereas Cleo isn’t use to it and she prefers to be outside. Cecil likes to stand in the middle of the room with the dogs, and he is happy to put himself to bed at night time.  

All of our sponsors should have received their HUHA update and story about their sponsored animal. If you are a sponsor and you haven’t received anything yet, please let us know, we may have the wrong contact information for you.

We still have rescued cats looking for a new home, remember to keep them in mind if you are looking for a new addition to your family. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=377630532    

Munchkin Paints Pigs Sues house

Piggy Sue is very house proud. The roof of her shelter is looking good. The photo’s are of our gorgeous goat Munchkin, she really wanted to help. I didn’t get any photo’s of my other helper, Squeak. Squeak is a very clever magpie, she was a good help too, she liked to pick dried paint off my hands and arms. I ended up with green footprints all up my arms. Squeak’s best friend is Lilly, our very intelligent Chihuahua, they love to play together. I will try to record it next time I am there. They are about the same size, they roll around on the floor together, it is so cute.

We have put in more perches in our Hawk Steve’s enclosure, Steve wont use them because he only has one wing. His friends who are rehabilitating will hopefully use them. We have also put perches in our new aviary for when the Morepork is ready to move in. The Morepork isn’t flying and we are hand feeding him.

We have a new bunny, his name is Griz and we got him from a pet shop. He was too aggressive to be rehomed so he came to us. He has been neuter so hopefully that will calm him down. Aggression can also be environmental, it can’t be fun living in a small cage in a pet shop.

We have been trapping wild kittens. So far we have caught 4 kittens. They have been taken to the SPCA, I saw them yesterday, they are looking really good, they have put on weight and they are inquisitive. They are still only small cute balls of fluff, only about 8 weeks old, they will be socialised and rehomed. We are still trying to catch more kittens and cats to get them desexed.

I now have some every upsetting news. We had a visiting puppy, he was a pit bull terrier, about 5-6months old. Last Thursday he attacked 3 of our beloved muscovy ducks. Cecil, Cleo and Rover. Sadly Rover didn’t make it and we have had to bury him. Cecil and Cleo have large wounds, but with some intensive caring they will hopefully make a full recovery. We have them resting inside and they are on antibiotic’s and pain relief plus Carolyn has set up a therapeutic bath full of healing goodness.

The muscovy ducks would eat bread out of our hands, they are very friendly. Cecil had a couple of very special tricks, he would jump for bread and he likes to play fetch. Carolyn got Cecil when he was just a yellow fluffy baby. Duckling don’t have a very good survival rate when they are on there own, it is best to put them with other baby ducklings. At the time we didn’t have any ducklings so Cecil grew up with baby bunnies. Cecil did so well and he loved his bunnies, I have posted a photo of Cecil and his bunnies. I love this photo, it would make the perfect picture of an Easter card.

Busy week

Despite the bad weather we have had a productive week. We have planted trees in our new aviary. I am very excited that it is nearly ready to be used, we just need to make a flash new shelter and a flash new perch. We built a big new perch to go in with our hawks, it is really fun I can’t wait to make more tomorrow. We have prepared the roof of Piggy Sue's shelter so that it can be painted as soon as the weather improves, hopefully tomorrow.

Three of our rescued cats have been rehomed so far. We still have more cats so if you know of anyone looking for a new addition to their family we have very special cats looking for the right home.

We picked up an injured Tui and Morepork. The Tui has been taken to the zoo for treatment. Once he is better we will rehabilitate him in our new aviary :-). The Morepork is doing better; he is now eating on his own.

Since having the HUHA truck we have quadrupled, the amount of fruit and veggies we get weekly. The animals are loving it! They are happy and fat ready for winter. Before the truck we were picking it all up on our horse float but there would be too much we would have to turn some away otherwise it would be unsafe driving the horse float back. We get heaps more green veggies which is great roughage plus we have just spent $3000 on baleage.

I am in the process of writing updates for our sponsored animals (they should be ready over the next week or two). If you aren’t familiar with our sponsorship program click here for more information.
All sponsors get a sponsorship pack with the story about their animal, an invitation to the sanctuary to visit the sponsored animal, sponsorship certificate and a photo of the animal. Throughout the year updates on what the sponsored animal has been doing is also provided.

RIP Tyke

I have some sad news, our ex farm dog Tyke needed to be put to sleep today. He went down hill fast and we had to act in his best interest. I am really upset; he was such a cuddly dog. I remember sitting in the courtyard with him and him giving me the biggest hug, taking him for rides on the quad bike and he loved coming out with us while we fed everyone. I am happy his last few months living at the sanctuary was good, he loved it.

OK time for some good news, Carolyn has managed to get Cransfields in Wellington to stop buying animal pelts. Carolyn explained how awful it is and wanted to meet with them to talk about it in person but they declined. Thanks to the huge amount of emails they received from our disgusted supporters they will not be restocking them. This shows that our actions do matter, and that with a bit of noise we can get action. Well done everyone, this is a small win but a WIN!

I have a puppy looking for a new home. She is a Labrador x Staffy, 1 year old, desexed, vaccination, micro chipped, great with kids and other pets. She is a very sweet dog that just wants to love you. She is from Christchurch I brought her back with me, in fact she is sitting next to me in my profile picture. I have a special bond with the dogs I brought back from Christchurch; they are wonderful dogs that deserve a great home. If you or someone you know are in the market for a new addition to your family please let us know 526 3630 or contact@huha.org.nz

I will take photos of our cats and kittens tomorrow and update our adoption page.

A Cat week

I have exciting news, well I am excited anyway. HUHA is taking on native bird rescue. We already rehabilitate native birds; they get treated at the Wellington zoo then come to us. We do a fantastic job; we have a very high success rate at rehabilitation. We respond to calls from the community, pick up and transport to and from the Wellington Zoo, we were already doing this but now it is official. We are still in the early stages of setting this up, so far it is just me, Carolyn and Jim but we are hoping to get more volunteers and have a roster system so no one is over worked. If anyone wants to be a native bird taxi in the greater Wellington area please call HUHA 526 3630.
This week we desexed, vaccinated and microchipped all the Christchurch kittens that weren’t already done. The kittens were too small to do when we were doing the others. Sam did a great job socialising the kittens; they are very cute, very friendly and of course all looking for new homes. We are down to only a few Christchurch cats; we have 3 cats and 5 kittens left.
Plus we have rescued 11 cats that were living in an overcrowded situation. Their ages range from 6 months to 8 years. I love hanging out in the cat room with them, they are great cats. However, the cats aren’t quite ready to be re-homed; a couple of them have an upset stomach from the stress of living in an overcrowded area. We will hold on to them until it clears up, when they are ready to be re-homed I will put photos up. We have set up a cat room at the sanctuary. It is very cool, we have places for them to climb and explore.
Also we rescued a morepork, a seagull, a thrush and a puppy. They are all doing very well.
The two white bunnies we rescued a while back have been re-homed to a great home where they will be loved and spoilt.

Puppy Farming

For those who don’t know, puppy farming (or puppy mill) is a commercial dog breeding facility that has an emphasis on profits above animal welfare. Often, their facilities are in substandard conditions regarding the welfare of dogs in their care. It is just like factory farming pigs and chickens but for domestic pets, commercial breeding for profit. These poor little puppies and dogs really are kept in appalling conditions. Sadly this does happen in New Zealand, it is absolutely disgusting and animals are suffering because of it.

Puppies and dogs are kept in small overcrowded and unsanitary cages or pens. They receive no stimulation, no exercise, only basic grooming, minimal vet care, are poorly socialised and of course stressed. Health and behavioural problems are very common simply because of how they are kept and their basic freedoms ignored. They often develop neurological conditions (pacing, circling) from being stuck in an small overcrowded cage with no stimulation. Bitches are bred too often, in some cases it is every season. Puppies are taken off the bitch too early and sold. I can go on all day ranting about how disgusting it is but i am sure i am preaching to the choir.

Please tell your friends and families, don’t buy into factory farming of dogs!
Click here for T.V 3s piece on puppy farms, making oodles. It shows the poor standard these puppies are kept in. You can also read the produces blog about the segment. Safe has an article on their website on puppy mills in New Zealand.

Animal Hides for sale in Wellington

I just got off the phone with Carolyn who is very distressed and upset!!! Carolyn was looking around in Wellington and stumbled upon a shop that sells animal hide! It is disgusting and barbaric! They have Zebra skin and Springboks skin, apparently you could see the eye sockets, nostrils and the ears pinned back. I can’t understand who would even want this. The idea of a dead animal on the floor in the living room is weird, why would anyone want that?

We are boycotting any store that sells it. Carolyn saw it in Cransfield on the corner of Lambton Quay and Johnston Street in Wellington, imported by Landed gear and freshly murdered in South Africa. I have seen images of animal fur in a documentary called Earthlings. It is very disturbing, it made me want to vomit, in fact it is what turned me vegan. I encourage everyone to do a little research, have a look at websites like HUHA, PETA, SAFE or WSPA. I can tell you how bad it is, but it won’t mean as much until you see it for yourself.

According to the Landed website they farm these animals for their skin. Doesn’t this make it seem even more senseless? Not that I think hunting is good, but you can (almost) see why some would like it. You know, they think they are a big manly man for killing a beast and need to be reminded of this so they display it in their lounge. But in this case the animal is farmed, it is not even manly or cave like (or whatever the hell it is that makes people want to hunt in the first place). It is so weak.

I also do not believe animal in farms are happy. They can not display natural behaviours; they are often kept in large herds, which can be very stressful, with little or no space to move about. Join us in boycotting the fur/skin industry, we can make a difference.

Toxic

I know it is only a couple of days since my last blog but things at the sanctuary are sort of on hold. One of the neighbours has had a bonfire and they can’t have realised what they have burnt is actually toxic! It is making everyone in the neighbourhood sick; I can’t go there until the fumes have cleared. Poor Carolyn and Jim have headaches and nausea. We have an old monkey Charlie, he is 41, his breed typically only live to about 28. Charlie has compromised lungs so we have had to keep him inside his house where he sleeps, during the day. Hopefully it clears soon.

Yesterday Carolyn and I were on our way to see the horse we helped the day before (who by the way is doing very well), when we spotted a young dog running along SH2. We stopped and put the dog in our car, we did find his owner and he was returned safe and sound to his very grateful owner.

Tonight on my way home I saw a young hedgehog on the road. So I stopped and moved it off the road. This got me thinking about how many people drive past and just hope the animal will be okay. I was thinking maybe it is because they don’t know what to do about it. If it is a domestic pet and you don’t know who the owner is, simply drop the animal off to the local vet clinic. They can scan the animal for a microchip or in some cases they will recognise the animal and will be able to contact the owners. If you can’t catch the animal contact animal control, if the animal is injured contact the SPCA. In my experience the SPCA are fantastic, they are helpful and give good advice.

By the way my blog new photo was taken at the Dog Watch sanctuary in Christchurch. We went to Christchurch with our 6 tone truck and people mover to drop off donated food, rescue remedy, toys, cat litter, collapsible cages, treats, animal first aid supplies and hand sanitiser to charities in Christchurch. Our aim was also to relieve stress and pressure by taking back with us animals that were already homeless before the earthquake, to be rehomed in Wellington. Thus, making space in the shelters for the displaced animals from the earthquake. We brought back 25 cats, 3 dogs, 17 roosters and 6 turtles. Plus we have had 2 more cats flown up last week. That is not all we did… We arranged a 5000 litre water tank delivered to 50 thirsty horses and helped rescued a cat locked inside an abandoned house.

I have updated the adoption page on the website with our bunnies, donkeys, cows and Tyke an old farm dog that was going to be shot.

Horse rescue

So far this week we have planted trees, groomed our gorgeous ponies, picked up 150 bales of balage, found great homes for two more cats (sorry 'Splash' has been homed) and we have a new kitten from the SPCA. She's very cute, her name is Betsey, black and white, about 8 weeks old and has a head tilt. I will take photos tomorrow and post them on the adoption page on the HUHA website.
But wait there's more, it gets better, i haven't told you what we did today. We rescued a horse! This was my first horse rescue and i am very pleased to say it went well, very well in fact. So this poor horse fell into a creek, her leg was stuck in a tree root and she was lying in the freezing cold water. It was a heroic effort from South Wairarapa vets and of course HUHA. We managed to cut the tree root and get her leg out. Then, with the help of a tractor, we helped her stand and she walked out. What an incredible horse! It looks as though she will make a full recovery. Yay!!! It was very obvious it was not Carolyn's first horse rescue, she was on fire, knew just what to do.
Finally, one of our wonderful supporters from Auckland had a fundraiser for us last Sunday. And wow what a success it was. They raised a whooping $750 PLUS they are still doing an Easter raffle. We are so grateful, they have put so much work and time in to achieving this, it is huge for us.

First blog from the HUHA apprentice

10/04/11

This week Carolyn was on a course learning equine assisted therapy ('horse therapy'). It is going to be great when we can apply this in our community to troubled youth, i am really excited about it! We have also re-homed a turtle to a lovely home where he is going to be very spoilt and loved :-), they have named him Rio. Two cats arrived yesterday from Christchurch to be re-homed. One of the cats is such a trooper, she was found floating in the river in Christchurch. She has been on a plane ride to Wellington, long car ride from the airport to PekaPeka and she is still a sweet purring cat!!! They are both very cute cats. 'Splash' (the trooper), is female, black and white, desexed, about 6 months old and very friendly and inquisitive. The other one, "Teddy", is a gorgeous big male cat, desexed, ginger and white, 2 - 3 years old and a very affectionate cat. He has a very soft thick coat, i could have easily stayed all day cuddling him. Typical me, i forgot to take photos of our new cats. I will ask Angie and Sam, who have been doing an awesome job advertising and re-homing our first lot of Christchurch cats, to take photos. Keep an eye out on our adoption page i will try and update it some time early this week.

If you, or anyone you know, would like a new addition to the family please contact us.