Opal And Emerald

Opal and Emerald were born at Australia’s only vegan bed and breakfast – Bed and Broccoli.   Their parents are the beautiful Samson and Delilah who are residents there. They grew up knowing nothing but love and kindness, receiving love and corn treats daily from their human caregivers and love, care and guidance from their parents.

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Little Opal hiding in her mum, Delilah’s, feathers – Photo with kind thanks to Bed and Broccoli.
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Little Opal and Emerald growing up at Bed and Broccoli – Photo courtesy of Bed and Broccoli

When it came time for Opal and Emerald and their other two siblings (Gabrielle and Tibet) to fly the coop and move to new homes, we were very happy to take Opal and Emerald home with us. Gabrielle and Tibet went to live at Little Oak Sanctuary in Canberra. After settling into Lefty’s Place, they made themselves at home, honking at the window for their savoury muffins (their favourite treat) early in the morning and swanning around the property posing for me in so many dreamy peahen ways. A photographer’s dream is living with peafowl. Having such beauty before your lens each day is quite the privilege.

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The girls have a love of machinery. At the old property they took ownership over an old boat on the property and at the new property they love the disused truck. Ladies with a love of machines.
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Enjoy their images in the slideshow below.

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally

Cosmo

Cosmo arrived one chilly night in October 2012.

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Cosmo on his first day not being chained to a fence.

He had spent his life tied by a short chain to a cyclone fence in an industrial park. He had a filthy water bucket and no food he could reach whilst tied to that fence. He arrived emaciated, dirty and terrified. He had rickets from malnutrition. The indentation from the chain around his neck stayed there for months. He was kept alone for so long that when he arrived he literally jumped out of the car and ran after our flock of sheep so fast that they completely freaked out and ran around and around the property trying to escape the crazy sheep. He was absolutely terrified of humans.

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He was obviously someone’s idea of a roast lamb who they were attempting to fatten up and kill to eat, but they just left him there to wither away. If you left a dog chained to a fence with no food, no shelter and grubby water it would be an offence, because Cosmo is a sheep, no one batted an eyelid….except for his rescuer.

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These days Cosmo is a happy member of the flock. He is so happy to be with other sheep for safety and friendship. Sheep should never be kept alone unless they choose it.

Cosmo with his best friend Pancho.
Cosmo with his best friend Pancho.

Enjoy Cosmo’s life in pictures below.

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally

Super Chicken

One night in December 2012, one unwanted rooster was dumped at our house. The person placed him into the yard in a cardboard box, which he then escaped from. It took two days to catch him and get him in the chicken run. In the process of catching him, he jumped over a seven metre fence, flew up onto the roof and survived two nights outside whilst there was a fox plague….which earned him the named of “Super Chicken”.

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Super Chicken was quite young when he first came to us, we think about a year old. As soon as he joined the flock though, he was in there throwing food up in the air and offering all the delicious treats in the world to the ladies. There’s no doubt about it, he is a ladies man. Our girls fight for the position of sleeping next to him on the perch at night.

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Roosters have a tough journey in this world. Being born male sees their chances of having a forever home drop dramatically. Unable to be kept in suburbia because of their crowing has seen the plight of the dumped and unwanted rooster sky rocket. Chicken hatching programs do not help the situation of unwanted roosters one little bit. Hatching out chicks without mothers into a classroom of young children does nothing but tell children that animals can be manipulated by us how ever we desire. Male chicks grow up to be roosters and are unable to be kept in suburbia because of council laws, so most of these hatching project roosters are killed.

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Super Chicken does not like the company of humans, but will stand back and let me shower his ladies with food and love. Every now and again he will look directly into my lens and give me a “tuk tuk tuk” just to let me know he’s got his eye on me, but he trusts me completely these days.

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally

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Whiteface

We saw flashes of her throughout June 2012.  A white streak of lightning would run across the property as quick as a flash. She was starving, skinny and soaked. She began to vocalise alot to us, even though she wouldn’t let us get near her. We started to leave food out on the front porch. She lived under the house for a good month, eating the food we provided her with and living like a wild thing. We just couldn’t get close to her until one night we heard her meowing from under the porch. I was just about to get in a taxi to go to Melbourne, when J walked in with a skinny, long haired , bedraggled cat in his arms. He said to me “What do I do with her now?”. He never really wanted a cat and was worried about how she would get along with his dog, Buster.

She was so wild and thin and was a skilled hunter. She had to hunt to survive for so long. We took her to the vet for a check up and to get her scanned for a microchip. She had a microchip and the “owner” was called. Her excuse for dumping Whiteface in the middle of nowhere to fend for herself was “She kept attacking the kids”…”she wasn’t nice”. How anyone can be so cruel is beyond me. If you have that many children, perhaps you should not get an animal.  People who dump animals should be fined, banned from having animals again and dumped in the middle of nowhere to fend for themselves.

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 Whiteface became ours even through J’s constant cries of “I don’t want a cat”. She refused to be picked up. She would hide and wait for you to walk past and attack your legs. She tore the house apart when she was kept in a night because she was so used to hunting at night.

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In January 2014, we moved house. Whiteface disappeared. She disappeared for ten days. We went back to the old house each day for ten days to  look for her. There was no sign of  her. I put posters out, rang everyone and still nothing. I gave up hope. J didn’t. He was determined to find his little, wild, white fluff ball. On the tenth day he called me yelling “Guess who I have in my arms!!!”. He found her. She had got so desperate for food that she ran out from under the house to greet him. The relief we felt was overwhelming. Whiteface had become such a part of our little family, that life without her swiping our legs as we walked past was hard to think about.

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She and J now have a friendship that is unbreakable. A person and his cat. A cat and her person

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Whiteface has a particular love of pizza. She will scale chairs and benches to grab a slice of pizza.
Whiteface was lucky. She found a home. Many animals are not so lucky. They are dumped and die of starvation or get killed by predators.

Do not dump your animals like they are nothing.

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally

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WHITEFACE

A one year $50 sponsorship helps Whiteface live like the royalty she thinks she is!

It helps Whiteface receive regular veterinary check ups. Whiteface is at the vet more than any of our other residents. She has always had bowel issues.

It ensures Whiteface has the things she loves every single day!

YOUR ONE YEAR SPONSORSHIP ENTITLES YOU TO:

*One sponsorship certificate

*Three 5×7 inch prints of Whiteface being a princess.

*An email from Whiteface during the year letting you know what she’s been up to

CLICK ON THE PHOTO BELOW TO SPONSOR WHITEFACE!

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Joan Of Arc. A Free Range Life.

Joan died one chilly, grey Saturday in June. Named after Joan of Arc, she was rescued from a free range egg farm on the foggy Friday night before. She was rescued from a free range farm who has the reputation of being one of the best free range farms in Australia.

Joan spent her entire (yet short) life being attacked and beaten by other chickens in a hierarchical system gone mad. There is no order when you have 60,000 chickens in one shed. Every chicken is constantly competing to be number one chicken with 59,999 other chickens. With no places to hide, life for a free range chicken is tough.

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The crux of a chicken social network is their pecking order. It is complex and incredibly important. A chicken flock is not meant to be 60,000 birds strong and because of this, fighting for top spot and being confused about who is top chicken happens all day, everyday.

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Joan tried to fight back. She was a feisty girl, she gave me some great bites, but she had absolutely no chance. She was brutalised. Her back was one huge scab. Her wings bleeding and bare. Her legs bloody. Her comb peppered with blood marks. Her body infected. She was in great pain. She just had no chance. We found her standing in the outdoor section of the free range farm in the early hours of the morning.

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She lived for 12 hours after she was rescued. She died in the warmth, full of pain killers and food and water… and full of our hope that she would make it.

The term “free range” may make you feel better about using animals, but in reality, the animals suffer just as intensively, only in a different way. Choose kindness when purchasing your food…for Joan and all the forgotten girls just like her.

 

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally