THEIR STORIES

MILKSHAKE & CATAPULT & HARLEY QUINN

Ban the Camel Culls

I bid on Milkshake and Catapult at an auction against the doggers. They had travelled from a Northern Territory slaughter house. A dogger is a colloquial term for a person who sells horses or camels on to a knackery. They are then slaughtered and processed, often for pet food.  When I arrived at the auction Milkshake is quite possibly one of the most friendly animals you will meet, she immediately kissed everyone who went up to their area.  Catapult is a lot more gentle and timid, he had been mishandled in his past.  These two are inseparable.  They were only 2 years old. Camels live to be 40 or 50 years old.  I was determined to win my bid!

​

Harley Quinn came from a camel diary farm that was shutting down.  The manager's did their best to find her a home and contacted us to take her as she is small and does not produce much milk and would not have done well at auction.  The rest of her 240 herd were sent to auction. Harley Quinn is very gentle, affectionate and loves the company of people.  She was 6 years old. Please see an article I wrote here on their rescue.

​

Dromedary camels are interesting and deeply misunderstood creatures. Camels are particularly sensitive animals and deserve kindness and compassion. They are naturally found roaming through Africa and Asia. In the 1840s camels were introduced into Australia, and have since established a prominent wild herd. With the cruelty associated with elephant rides coming to light in recent years, camel rides are interestingly not receiving the same attention - yet, the intelligence of camels is similar to that of elephants.

​

Australia has the largest population of camels and the only herd of dromedary (one-humped) camels exhibiting wild behaviour in the world. The estimated number of camels in Australia today ranges drastically from 300,000 to over 1 million. While few efforts have been taken to establish a more accurate count, the latter figure has driven the push for mass culls. Others saw this as an opportunity to exploit the camels, trapping and sending them to slaughter, using them in dairies for camel milk, or for rides and even racing.  For wild camel culls they use helicopters, motorbikes, horse riding, and ‘coacher camels’, so that wild camels are driven to a set of yards where they are trapped and unable to escape. Following capture, camels are commonly sold off to abattoirs to be killed for meat. In some instances they are shot in the yards, watching on as their friends are killed before them. The stress and terror of mustering and contact with humans can leads to many devastating outcomes for camels, least of all trauma, abortion and injury.  Sometimes, a smaller number of camels are sold for live export overseas. They are rounded up and captured, before being subjected to an arduous journey at sea for weeks at a time, and fully-conscious slaughter in countries that have no animal welfare laws. 

Interestingly, camels are classified as a ‘pest’ due to the so-called damage they do to the environment. The impact of the estimated 1 million grazing camels, however, would be significantly less than that of the 25 million cattle and 63.7 million sheep in Australia.  All feral camels show resilience, intelligence, self-organization, and a capacity to evade human captivity—all of the things that contradict a belief that livestock exist only to serve us, obey us. Going feral, they remind us that animals are neither machines, nor docile objects, but thinking, escaping, beings, and as such they help us to define the injustice of farming a little better. Perhaps this is why they are so hated; they are an uncomfortable reminder that animals are not “happy meat.”

​

Despite their frightening appearance, camels are very emotional and, in general, are more inquisitive, affectionate and attention-seeking than a horse. Treat a camel well, and its loyalty will rival that of a dog. But mistreat it, and its fury will never fade.

​

​

Wokka was found in Northern Victoria alone and with an injury to his back foot.  He is not lame, but he cannot be ridden, otherwise he would have problems later in life.  Brumbies are so intelligent, curious and affectionate and approach life differently to raised horses.  Sundance, our quarterhorse x paint, was always the bottom of the pecking order with any other horse until Wokka.  They used to bite and chase her.  When Wokka arrived they were eating out of the same bucket and spend hours nibbling each other and running around together.  He did not compete for food at all, not something you need to do in the wild! When I originally found Sundance she was thin, standing knee deep in a flooded paddock, with a fungal infection on her legs.  It was apparent that Sundance had suffered from heavy handedness in her training before arriving at our sanctuary.  She is an overthinker which makes her a difficult horse to ride and requires a lot of patience.  I suspect she had suffered older style breaking-in methods which were based on force and not trust.  But now she has nothing to worry or overthink about.

​​

Brumbies are descendants of the horses that settlers brought with them that enabled them to explore, settle, farm and exist in this incredible country.

Todays Brumbies have been running wild in our Alpine regions of Australia for more than 180 years. They have evolved to be hardy, sociable and calm creatures who have the ability to thrive in the Alpine landscape.

From Banjo Patterson's Man From Snowy River to Eleyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby series, to the ten dollar note, Brumbies have become entwined in our mythology and our sense of nationhood.

Brumbies have shown the ability to co-exist and even bring benefits to their environment through their preferential grazing of weed species. Of course, their ability to thrive will mean that non lethal management could be required to keep them at levels which are healthy to both the Brumbies and the environment.

Save our brumbies ♥️​

"Australia was made on the back of a horse." 

​

Tinkerbell is a Jersey, and is the mother of Twinkles who is a Jersey x Frisian, who is the mother of Mulberry who is a Jersey x Frisian x Angus.  Three generations.  So when farmers say that they don't form long lasting bonds, nothing could be further from the truth.  These girls look after each other and spend their days in a very close social bond.  Once I accidentally left Tinkerbell locked in the roundyard for a few hours, her daughter Twinkles ran up to the house after the weather started to get bad and started mooing and shaking her head at me very annoyed and stressed to be separated from her mamma. It took me a few days to gain back their trust.  I never made that mistake again! They are very sensitive and intelligent souls.  We also have the magnificent Ophelia who is a huge Angus girl, she lets people come up and stroke her. She is so huge it is like touching some kind of gentle mythical Minotaur.  Until recently we had Daisy another gentle and beautiful Angus who unfortunately passed on. She was buried in a beautiful spot and very missed. These girls are from a farmer that downsized and contacted Edgar's Mission for a permanent home as she could not bear them being slaughtered.  Edgar's Mission passed on our details to her and she trusted us with her 5 beauties.  In 2025 Tinkerbell died suddenly in her 20's, she is buried at the sanctuary. I found her one morning surrounded by Thor and her family standing over her.  She is so very missed, especially by Twinkles her daughter, who now never leaves Mulberry's side.

​

Like other mammals, to produce milk a dairy cow must keep giving birth, usually to a calf each year. If nature was allowed to take its course—calves would suckle from their mother for several months, even up to a year. Mother cows, like most mammals, have a strong maternal bond. One study found that this bond was formed in as little as five minutes. When calves are removed mother cows will frantically bellow for the offspring that they will never see again. Separated calves appear frightened and bewildered. Regardless of how this situation is handled this separation causes enormous stress for both the cow and calf. New mothers are returned to the milking herd to maximise profits. Her milk is then collected for human consumption. 

​

Dairy industry figures indicate that hundreds of thousands of unwanted dairy calves are slaughtered each year in Australia as 'waste-products' of the dairy industry — usually at only days old. Dairy calves are not valued as they don't grow at the same rate as beef calves and their meat quality is considered sub-standard by the beef industry.  

As soon as calves reach their fifth day of life (after separation from their mothers they are fed a milk substitute) Australian livestock transport standards allow the calves to be transported to abattoirs and saleyards. Bewildered calves are subjected to the stresses of unfamiliar sights and sounds and multiple and often rough handling as they are transported to calf scales, sale yards and slaughterhouses.

Thor literally jumped our fence. We think he was escaping from a slaughter truck or had been separated from his mother.  He must have run past our property and saw the girls and leapt over the fence.  I contacted the local council to make sure no one had reported a missing steer.  After a respectable amount of time and no claim he was deemed ours.  He is a Dexter and quite small in stature but very respected due to his long horns by other animals.

​

Before arriving at the slaughterhouse, cows are subjected to being cramped onto trucks and transported vast distances without food or water. 48 hours without water is considered acceptable according the DAFFs (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) ‘Animal Welfare, Standards and Guidelines for Land Transport of Livestock’. Not that these are monitored in any meaningful way. In Australia, after coming off the truck and being left in often cramped holding pens, they are then further traumatised by being forced into the slaughter area (e.g. via electric prodders, or sometimes punched and kicked) where, on the kill-floor, they have a bolt shot into their skull by a captive bolt gun. This will render the cow unconscious as well as cause brain damage to the animal. Alternative non-skull-penetrating guns are also used in some slaughterhouses, which instead will cause concussion before unconsciousness. Then, the cow will have their throat slit before being hung upside-down, the blood draining from their body. For those exported overseas, they are often killed in far slower, more agonising ways.

It should be noted that there have been documented cases where the cow remains conscious as their throat is slit. Further, more than a dozen slaughterhouses in Australia have Government approval to slit the throats of fully-conscious cows to satisfy the religious practices of ‘halal’ and ‘kosher’ slaughter.

Pam and Edgar's Mission are my heroes.  We were honoured to adopt some animals from them.  Their Quote “If we could live happy and healthy lives without harming others… why wouldn’t we?” has always resonated with me. It basically says it all.  Below are the stories written by Edgar's Mission of the 5 lambs we adopted from them. 

​

Little Boy Blue

A tiny lamb suddenly appearing in the headlights of a late-night traveller was something this kind-hearted driver least expected. But sadly, this was no tiny baby who had simply lost their way, as a serious head wound told of a lucky escape from a predator, who dropped the hapless animal some distance from where he ought to be. But this is where Little Boy Blue’s luck turned from bad to bright, as he was taken home and a call hastily made to Edgar’s Mission. 

​

Little Girl Pink

A call from our friends at the RSPCA in Castlemaine to assist with an orphan lamb saw us presented with one of the saddest babies we have ever met. Even her pretty pink jacket, warm bottle and a cute as a button new friend in Little Boy Blue could not stop this wee lamb crying. Desperate were her pleas for the one thing we could never give her: her mother. Hearing the frantic bleats, and seeing her desperate pacing left no doubt in our minds that lambs form the strongest bonds with their mothers, something circumstance cannot break. One of our most heart-breaking of days was the first day with Little Girl Pink, as she cried and cried and then cried some more for the mother she would never see again. No amount of sweet milk formula nor cuddles was going to cut it for her. As the days slowly rolled on, Little Girl Pink came to terms with her situation, a stoic resolve guiding her through.

Oh, how we hate winter, not for her bitter winds and driving rain (we have jackets, shelters and heaters for those), no, it is the number of orphan lambs who find themselves in often the most hopeless of situation, landing at the mercy of a kind heart. We truly thank those who support the work of Edgar’s Mission, without your belief in our work, lambs such as Little Girl Pink would have the bleakest of futures.

​​

David Copperfield and Trottswood Copperfield

Trottswood Copperfield, although small in size, is great in courage. Perhaps a reflection of his saviour, who could have simply driven past on that fateful day when they spied the wee chap desperately trying to suckle from his sick mum, who was unable to rise. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and almost without a hope of kindness to save him, this could have been Trottswood’s worst day. But it wasn’t—although he didn’t know it yet. With help at hand proving to be almost as elusive as a phone signal, our kind heart could have been forgiven for giving up.

But that was never on the cards, for they had compassion in their heart and determination in their stride as they set off to alert the farmer to the plight of the animals in his care. With him quickly recognising the demands of caring for a newborn lamb were beyond his means or enthusiasm, and with a property to manage and a large flock to tend, the task of raising a tiny male lamb was easily and quickly relinquished, whilst a pledge was made to help the ewe. Heartbreaking as it was to separate the lamb from the ailing mother, our Good Samaritan knew this was to be the best outcome they could achieve on this day.

Now, while Trottswood Copperfield is almost a dead ringer* for our little David Copperfield, there is no blood relation. However, we recognise that family doesn’t always mean your mum, dad and siblings. What it does mean is having those around you who love and care for you, those who cheer you on through your highest of highs and are right there by your side for the lowest of lows. And that special family is exactly what dear little Trotwood has found as we have welcomed him, too, into the lamb clan of 2017!

*‘Dead ringer’ is Aussie slang for lookalike.

​

David Copperfield was found trying to nurse from his long dead mother until he was rescued and taken to the sanctuary.

​​

Anne of Green Gable

Dear little Anne of Green Gables, and her ever-present smile on her sweet face, reminds us daily of the vulnerability of her kind. And also, the goodness of the human heart. From the vantage point of her country home, the feeble cries of an abandoned and newborn lamb saw our hero swing into action as night time was quickly descending and wily foxes were no doubt surveying their quarry—awaiting their time to pounce. This was most definitely a case of finding the right place at just the right time for little Anne of Green Gables.

​

Alerted ahead, we had thawed our stored colostrum and readied yet another space in our nursery for wee Anne. Despite being only hours old, she was feisty and determined, yet endearing and gentle, and we couldn’t love her any more if we tried, nor could her new BFFs, Little Boy Blue and Little Girl Pink.

​​

These two babies ended up at our sanctuary after their mother had died giving birth to them.  The farmer who had owned them wanted them to go to a loving home after she had raised and bottle fed them.  They were straight away adopted by Little Boy Blue who saw a kindred spirit in his fellow Dorpers.  They were so lucky because he is the leader of the flock!  So they did not endure the normal love bumps and head butts from the flock to integrate into the pecking order.  Sadly, Clyde was bitten by a snake a year after he arrived and after a valiant battle we lost him.  Bonnie stayed close by and we made sure she got the chance to say goodbye to him before he was cremated.  We were worried about how she would cope without her beloved Clyde, but Little Boy Blue to the rescue again, she stayed close by his protection. Many years later in 2025 Bonnie passed away despite all efforts by Lynne and the vet. This darling girl is so missed everyday.  She loved being brushed by all the visitors and had the cheekiest nature.

​

Despite their reputation as being simple “followers”, sheep are intelligent animals with incredible memories. In nature, sheep travel long distances in complex, close-knit families. Each herd will cooperate and stay together for survival and protection, similar to many other animal species who travel together in packs.

Just like dogs, a sheep can learn their own name. Far beyond this, they also have highly developed facial recognition skills. A team of British scientists has shown that sheep are able to recognize the faces of at least 50 individuals and continue to remember them after years of separation. "If sheep have such sophisticated facial recognition skills, they must have much greater social requirements than we thought," said Keith Kendrick, of the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England. Sheep also form close friendships with one another. Researchers believe that just like humans, sheep will often think of each other when they’re not around, and show signs of distress or depression when their preferred companions are missing. As we continue to discover more and more about these intelligent and emotional animals, it appears the common belief about sheep being “mindless and simple” has been shaped by our own lack of understanding.