The Rooster Project

Greetings and thank you again for supporting the Rooster Project!

As a supporter of the project, you know that there are always more roosters in need of refuge than there are spaces at sanctuaries. I am sorry to report that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, that problem has escalated. Many people decided to begin keeping backyard chickens while on lockdown and now, predictably, many of the chicks they bought this spring are turning out to be roosters.

Over the past few months, the number of calls and messages we receive about roosters has increased five-fold, and many other sanctuaries report the same. In response, we have exercised extreme creativity to—somehow—increase the number of roosters we are able to accommodate. Photos of a few of the newcomers are attached to this report.

We’ve also helped other sanctuaries figure out how to safely increase their rooster populations and have facilitated the creation of a couple of new microsanctuaries. Microsanctuaries are private homes in which vegans have created space to offer refuge to a low number of animals. If you think that you might be able to offer refuge to one or more roosters yourself, please do reach out to us and we will assist you!

As we do every year, we also participated in the rescue of chickens, including roosters, from Kapporos last month. One of our staff members helped with planning and with triage for rescued birds. We welcomed more than 30 rescued birds ourselves and also transported birds to two small sanctuaries in our region. Since the big white birds used in the Kapporos ritual are the same kind of chicken as our very first rescue more than 20 years ago, we have an especial dedication to them.

Speaking of our 20th anniversary this year, we are holding a virtual gala that will include many features open to all, whether or not they buy a ticket to the event. Just visit our Facebook page on October 10 to tune in for the fun — we all need some these days!

In closing, I want to remind you that we are offering regular livestreams, during which it is possible to virtually visit with roosters and other sanctuary residents, on Facebook and Instagram. (The Facebook videos are archived, so you can view them even if you miss the livestream.) Many people find that tuning into these virtual tours is a welcome respite from the stresses of life at this perilous moment, and we are happy to offer those moments of refuge to you.

Thanks again, and I hope to “see” you at the gala or during one of our livestreams soon!

Links:

• VINE on Twitter
• VINE on Facebook
• VINE on Instagram

Before I say anything else, let me say that VINE Sanctuary stands in solidarity with protestors around the country and around the world who are standing up against racism and insisting that life means more than property. As an organization devoted to social and environmental justice as well as animal liberation, we have always included anti-racist efforts in our work and will continue to do so.

We do see our efforts on behalf of roosters as especially consistent with struggles for social justice. Roosters are stereotyped, and these sterotypes lead them to be treated with wanton callousness and to be subjected to violence. Stereotypes about nonhuman animals and stereotypes about groups of people interact with one another complexly, often compounding one another. No person of any species will ever be truly free until we have rearranged our minds and remembered our hearts.

Since the last report, our efforts to care and advocate for roosters have been complicated by Covid-19. Nonetheless, we have persisted. Despite having to close the sanctuary to visitors, we did devise protocols to allow roosters in life-threatening situations to be brought to the sanctuary for no-contact drop-offs.

Roosters who have come to the sanctuary since the last update include a group of semi-feral birds seized by authorities from a local farm. We have been heartened to see them be socialized by other birds at the sanctuary and even make friends with members of other species. One has taken to riding on the back of Sugar the friendly ewe. The most touching rescue was when we were contacted by a man who had overheard his neighbor planning to kill an unwanted rooster. He talked his neighbor into refraining from killing the bird until he could look for a home, found us, kept the bird in his home overnight, and then brought the bird to us even though doing so required him to drive to a strange place just as our state was shutting down due to the pandemic.

The pandemic has put out-of-state travel on hold, so I will not be able to travel to other sanctuaries to help them strategize how to be able to take in more roosters until travel becomes more safe. However, we have been able to do remote consultations. We have also helped two local authorities coping with roosters seized from cockfighting figure out how to place rather than euthanize as many roosters as possible.

We know that you too may be struggling due to Covid-19 and/or the upsurge in police violence across the USA. We want to remind you that life at the sanctuary continues as always and to see the sanctuary as a place of refuge for you too. Follow us on social media, where we are doing frequent live streams, to tune into the world beyond the human for a few minutes each day.

Thank you again for supporting The Rooster Project!

Sincerely,

pattrice

Links:

• VINE on Facebook
• VINE on Twitter
• VINE on Instagram