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All Mother's Day
Let's be Kind to all Mothers
Mothers come in all shapes, sizes and species, yet when it comes to their babies, we are the same in all the ways that matter.
Did you know that pigs sing to their babies, chickens talk to their chicks while they’re still in the egg, and cows carry their babies for nine months, just like us?
Sadly for farmed animals, these loving bonds are broken all too often due to outdated practices and laws.
But a kinder world is possible – and it all begins with you!
Read on for inspiration on how you can eat and give kind this Mother’s Day, and discover the inspiring stories of our loving rescued animals mums and they babies they finally got to keep.
Meet the Mums
Thanks to kindness, these formerly farmed animals have found sanctuary with their babies, and will remain together forevermore.
Petal & Little Flower
During her time on a dairy farm, each of Petal’s babies had been taken from her shortly after birth so that her milk could be taken for human use.
At the age of ten, when the her milk production had waned and she was deemed no longer productive, Petal was slated for slaughter. This is the usual fate of dairy cows, despite their longevity being around 20 years.
To make matters more tragic, Petal was carrying another baby. But then kindness found her and brought her to safety at Edgar’s Mission.
When Petal gave birth to her baby Little Flower, something happened that awed her carers.
Perfectly healthy birds are known to feign injury to lure predators away from their young. We couldn’t help but wonder if that was what we were witnessing.
Wishing to check that all was well, yet cautious not to invade their space, we entered their field. When Petal spied us, the doting mother took a gentle lick of her baby and moved away, not looking back. She nonchalantly lowered her head and ate some grass, then looked our way as if trying to divert our attention to her.
When we left the scene, Petal immediately returned to her calf and lovingly caressed every inch of her form with her tongue.
Normally around this point in Petal’s previous birthings, her babies would have been taken from her. Little Flower is the baby she will finally get to keep.
Today, although Little Flower is not so little, she still goes to her doting mum for love, safety and affection.
Oreo & Biscuit
If you are a farmed animal, there is no better place to born than on the hallowed soil of a sanctuary. And that is exactly where little Biscuit touched down in the winter of 2022, only to be licked clean with the love and tongue of his proud mumma, Oreo.
Despite a no-breeding policy here at Edgar’s Mission, every now and then an animal will arrive at sanctuary pregnant. And therein the purest of love and kindness is allowed to play out.
Witnessing the strong bonds that were once thought to be the preserve of our species movingly present in another, calls into question so much of society’s legal treatment of these beings who are of our making and at our mercy.
Much to dear Oreo’s disdain, cheeky Biscuit cheerily showed a trust in our species that the older and more suspicious Oreo initially did not share after being rescued. But over time, Oreo has become friendly and trusting too.
Scooting up to greet us, then impishly zipping off in the other direction as a sense of play becomes him. It brings such joy to our hearts knowing that this little baby’s sense of fun shall never be robbed from him. Nor ever his life.
For growing old in the sanctuary of love shall be his lot. And no greater sanctuary than that can be found.
One does not have to operate a not-for-profit sanctuary for formerly farmed animals to provide these much-maligned sentient and sensitive beings with sanctuary. For a greater sanctuary exists within us all. It is called our heart, and given the chance, it is bigger than you could ever imagine when it is filled with love and kindness for all.
Carol
As the festive season sped towards its climax, a pregnant sow gave birth to seven little piglets. Sadly, only three would survive.
The cold, wet and wind-swept concrete of the pound yard made it a barren place, a place that provided no material for Carol to build the extravagant nest her every being was telling to build. Expectant mother pigs go to great lengths collecting sticks, twigs and branches to fashion a nest to safely birth their babies in.
Despite her fear, Carol remained gentle as she followed the crate of her surviving babies into the vehicle that would take them to their forever home, and the soft golden straw-filled barn that awaited.
Carol’s sweet songs of joy as she was reunited with her piglets ensured there wasn’t a dry eye in the manger.
We could not help but wonder, looking into her intelligent eyes, what made her determine her escape from the farm in which she had been held? Perhaps it was the thought of her babies being taken away from her as all her previous ones had; perhaps she dreamed something better lay ahead.
What we do know is that Carol, Cookie, Candy and Kris Kringle found sanctuary at Edgar’s Mission together, just in time for Christmas.