Farm Sanctuary Asks Parents to Consider Alternatives to Buying Baby Chickens, Ducks and Rabbits as Holiday Pets

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – April 20, 2011 – With Easter just days away, and the animated movie Hop, featuring an adorable bunny as the main character, packing movie theatres nationwide, Farm Sanctuary (www.farmsanctuary.org), the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, is encouraging families to resist buying live bunnies, ducklings and chicks as gifts for their children, and instead sponsor an animal in need. Every year hundreds of baby chickens, ducks and rabbits find their way into Easter baskets, but they grow quickly, and interest in them is often lost as the reality of their long term care sets in. As a result, Farm Sanctuary’s California and New York Shelters see an abundance of people looking to find homes for unwanted animals immediately following Easter.

“Rabbits, ducks and chickens are living, feeling animals, not holiday trinkets, yet many people impulsively purchase them without considering whether or not they are prepared to take care of them for many years to come,” said Farm Sanctuary’s National Shelter Director Susie Coston. “We urge parents to show their children that animals deserve love when they’re all grown up just as much as when they were babies. They can do that by sponsoring an animal in need for their children this Easter rather than buying one.”

Farm Sanctuary sponsorships help provide year-round care for rescued animals in a setting where they can enjoy freedoms difficult to provide in households, such as the space necessary to exercise their natural behaviors and the ability to socialize with others of the same species. The animals available for sponsorship this Easter include: Stacey, a pig who had been used for practice surgeries at a university; Jade, a hen who was rescued from a cockfighting operation; Mr. Peepers, a goose who was a target of abuse for nearly 10 years; Bradley, a steer who was rescued from a dairy farm where he was tied in a filthy barn, unable to walk or lift his head; Preston, a duck who was found wandering the streets of New York City after likely having been bought during Easter and abandoned; and Lily, a goat who faced slaughter after being purchased as a gift for a child. Each unique sponsorship package includes a personalized adoption certificate with color photo that makes the perfect addition to any Easter basket.

To sponsor an animal for Easter, visit: farmsanctuary.org.