Welcome to LittleHill Animal Rescue & Sanctuary

Please note: we cannot offer volunteer placements or work experience to transition year students. All volunteers must be over the age of 18. 

AUGUST 2021 

UPDATE! We’ve just been asked to take a small number of hens from a commercial egg farm next month, the weekend of 11th and 12th September. We hope to get to Waterford/East Cork; Meath/Louth; The midlands/East Galway; and one other run TBC. Please PRIVATE MESSAGE our Facebook page when we post all of the information on the page.  

Our summer rescue runs have now finished. We managed to get all of the poor little hens out of the farm and the slaughter truck, due to collect them on August 3rd, was cancelled! 🙂  However, we didn’t manage to find enough homes for all of the hens, so we have a large number here in the Sanctuary, in Co. Kildare, all eating their heads off and laying away, delighted with their freedom.  If you can offer at least two of these gorgeous little red hens a loving home, please PRIVATE MESSAGE our FACEBOOK PAGE. www.facebook.com/littlehillanimalrescue 

PLEASE NOTE: We do not rehome unwanted roosters, so please don’t ask. 

APRIL 2021

We hope to have another hen rescue in early June, when a small number of hens will be released from a commercial egg farm. There is a huge demand for hens at present, and bookings for these rescue runs will be taken on Facebook messenger only. 

We will have a much bigger rescue in July, and hope to get to many major towns and cities around Ireland with hens then. Collection points will be posted on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/littlehillanimalrescue. Please do NOT email with requests for hens, as bookings cannot be taken from there.

As always, there is an adoption fee to try and cover the huge costs involved in conducting these rescues – AND we NEVER give any animal or bird “free to good home”, so please don’t ask, as refusal often offends. 

JANUARY 2021.  

WE’VE HAD LOTS OF ENQUIRIES FROM PEOPLE WANTING TO ADOPT DOGS OR PUPPIES.  WE DO NOT HAVE ANY DOGS OR PUPPIES AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION AT THIS TIME. 

HENS! HENS! HENS!

Update – we saved them all! Just a few left here at the sanctuary that can be collected by appointment. Please text 087 7754399 and we’ll get back to you to arrange. Full Covid-19 protection protocols must be observed when collecting hens. 

LAST CHANCE TO RESCUE HENS UNTIL THE SUMMER!

Well, we managed to get all of the battery caged hens to new homes over the past few weeks. But, we can’t sit back and relax, because we have hens from another farm that have only a few days left before the slaughter truck arrives for theM.  This Saturday and Sunday, we will have runs to the following places:

Athy; Ballymahon; Carlow; Delvin; Edgeworthstown; Enfield; Ennis; Kildare town; Kilkenny; Kells; Kinnegad; Lanesborough; Limerick city; Mallow; Mitchelstown; Mullingar; Navan; Nenagh; Muine Bheag; Oldcastle; Portlaoise; Rathangan; Shannon; Thurles; Tullow

Please go to our Facebook page and PRIVATE MESSAGE to book hens. Adopt fee applies.

NOVEMBER 2020

HENS – HENS – HENS!

Littlehill have a big hen rescue coming up next month!

AUGUST 2020

We have been able to resume our fundraising efforts again! We have been given permits to collect on Grafton Street on some weekends, so watch out for our team in their red t shirts, and their doggy companions. We have been so busy during lockdown, with hen rescues and lots of very needy animals coming into our care, that every cent will be used carefully to ensure we can continue with this, sometimes heartbreaking, work.

We will have another hen rescue in October, so check out our HENS, HENS, HENS page here for more info!

Due to the Coronavirus/Covid 19 crisis, all of our fundraising has been suspended.

In the interest of public safety, we will not be using the permits granted to us for street collections  in Grafton St. Dublin for the foreseeable future.  

We will be relying solely on donations via PayPal or directly to our bank account (email for details).   We have hundreds of mouths to feed here at the Sanctuary, so we depend on the generosity and goodwill of our supporters to get us through this terrible time. Thank you to those who have already donated. 

March 31st 2020 – In keeping with the government-directed restrictions due to the Coronavirus crisis, Littlehill will not be conducting any hen rescues until all restrictions have been lifted, and it is deemed safe to do so.  We do not have any hens available for adoption at this time. 

Your donations keep us open. Please donate via the PayPal button on the bottom right of your screen.

Thank you!

March 2020 

Due to the Corona Virus crisis, Littlehill Sanctuary is closed to the public. We will continue our work looking after our permanent residents behind closed gates, but due to some of our personnel being in the high risk category, we politely request that you do not come to the sanctuary in person.  For this reason also, we are closed to new intakes of animals.

Update on our Hen Rescues 14/03/2020 :
We are awaiting dates from Farmer and we will post info runs etc here as soon as we get them ..
We just don’t know at present what the future will bring, or how we will safely conduct our next hen rescues, thankfully the farmers don’t need us as yet and hopefully it will be a few weeks yet, we are expecting early May, and please please wait if you can .. At present with the current restrictions and danger to humans and with a case of bird flu being detected in Monaghan area, it is just not the time and thankfully no little hens are due to go to slaughter for the moment 😊

We would strongly advise feeding and watering your hens ducks geese indoors for the moment and keeping all feed and feeders etc AWAY from wild birds, allowing them no access to same .. A little feeding station could be built outside coops, wired to keep small and large wild birds out and then locked up when your hens have eaten, allowing them access to this several times per day ?! And of course set up a wild bird feeding station well away from your hens 😊
Thanks to everyone for your patience and we look forward to meeting you all and saving some featherless lives in the near future.

Our first hen rescue of 2020 will take place in early Spring – watch this space and our Facebook page!

These little hens have lived in tiny cages for all of their lives (15 months or so), and would just love the chance to walk on grass, dustbathe, sunbathe and scratch around like a hen should!

We will be travelling to all corners of the country with hens, so please keep an eye on Facebook for details!

 And so it begins! The first batch of rescued hens of 2020 are being released in early March. We need to find homes for all of these girls, or they will be slaughtered – they are only just over one year old. Sadly, this is the reality of commercial egg-farming of all types – organic, free-range or caged.  Please give a hen (or a few) a home!  All details of our upcoming rescue will be posted on our Facebook page in February. https://www.facebook.com/littlehillanimalrescue/ 

HEN RESCUES 2019

November 2019   Last Hen Rescue for this year!

UPDATE – All the hens were successfully rehomed! 

 

Please Note: We are unable to offer work experience placements to Transition Year students, due to the terms of  our insurance policy. All volunteers must be over 18, fundraising volunteers must be over 16.

LONG TERM  LIVE-IN VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Do you want to help animals? Do you have a few weeks to spare? 

Opportunity for long-term resident volunteers!  Please email us for more details! littlehill.animalsanctuary@gmail.com or apply through HelpX or Workaway.

Please check our Facebook page for the latest dogs and cats available for adoption.

These little hens deserve the chance to live their lives as nature intended. Enjoying fresh air and sunshine, being able to spread their wings and dustbathe.  They are only 15 months old, and have spent their lives in tiny, cramped cages. They will be shovelled into a truck and slaughtered if we can’t find homes for every single one of them. And we will NOT let that happen.

GOATS! Available at various times from dairy farms.

We have just successfully rehomed almost 40 male kid goats, rejects from the goat dairy industry. They are usually just slaughtered at a few days old, but we took them and lots of wonderful people have adopted them. They need bottle feeding, just like a human baby, for some weeks, and after being neutered, will make wonderful pets.

We will post details on our Facebook page when the farms contact us. We do not have goats for rehoming at Littlehill.

We wish to state that we no longer act as hosts for Wwoof Ireland. Applications for internships may now be made directly to Littlehill’s email. See our Volunteer page for details.

Hens, hens, hens! 

 Even if you’ve never kept hens before, please consider taking a few to provide your family with cruelty free eggs, and you get fabulous pets into the bargain. (Some eggs sold as free-range in Irish supermarkets are, in fact, laid by caged hens, so the only guarantee that the eggs used by you and your family is to have your own hens!) We will provide you with guidelines for what is involved in keeping hens. Two or three hens can live quite happily in suburban back gardens!

Please keep checking our Facebook page for daily updates.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/LittleHill-Animal-Rescue-Sanctuary/201575106530501
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 ADOPT SOME HENS!

 

 

Based in Kildare, Littlehill Rescue and Sanctuary undertakes to rescue and re-home abandoned, abused and neglected dogs, cats and horses. The odd turkey, duck, and pigeon has also been rehabilitated at various stages of its existence! Recently, several hundred ex-battery hens have been rescued, rehabilitated and re-homed. This charity is funded entirely by donations, and by the resources of its founder, Susan Anderson, who has worked tirelessly for the past 20+ years to make the world a better place for animals.

ALERT!

We have received numerous reports of dogs being stolen from houses and gardens – these dogs are often taken by unscrupulous people who use them as bait to blood fighting dogs, or for breeding.  Make sure your dog is microchipped and wears an ID tag, stating he/she is neutered/spayed. Please be vigilant and make sure to keep your dogs secure at all times.

In 2013 we rescued over 7,000 young battery hens from slaughter, and rehomed them all around Ireland.  In 2014, we rescued almost 8,000 hens, which were due to be slaughtered at only 16 months old.  To date, we have rescued and rehomed more than 40,000 hens!

Please contact us by email (littlehill.animalsanctuary@gmail.com) or on Facebook if you’d like to give these girls, who have spent the 15 months  of their existence locked in tiny cages, a chance to live in freedom, to dust bathe, sun bathe, spread their wings, and just be clucking, content, happy hens. Most have already found their forever homes, but we still have some who are waiting for their new families!

November 2014 UPDATE

We are delighted that the fabulous Pauline Mclynn has agreed to become Patron of Littlehill!  Already, Pauline is spreading the word on TV and elsewhere about the work we do at Littlehill, and is busy knitting sweaters for the hens from the rescue, which takes place at the end of the month.

 

Follow Peggy’s progress on our Facebook page

PEGGY HAS HAD TWO SURGERIES TO CORRECT HER DEFECTIVE JOINTS, AND IS NOW ALMOST AS GOOD AS NEW.  SHE CAN NOW RUN AND PLAY, LIKE ANY YOUNG DOG.  HOWEVER, SHE WILL BE ON MEDICATION FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE, TO COMBAT THE ARTHRITIS THAT SET IN BEFORE WE TOOK HER FROM THE POUND WHERE SHE WAS DUE TO BE PUT TO SLEEP.

THANKS TO ALL WHO DONATED TO THE PEGGY’S LEG APPEAL.

ADOPTING FROM LITLEHILL

If you can offer one of our dogs, cats, hens, ponies etc. a loving home, please read our rehoming policy on our adoptions page.

PLEASE NOTE:  WE DO NOT OFFER A RE-HOMING SERVICE FOR UNWANTED ANIMALS.  OUR ADOPTABLE DOGS AND CATS HAVE BEEN RESCUED FROM POUNDS AND OTHER HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS.

NEWSFLASH!

We have been asked where people can donate to help with the care of all our rescues. We really appreciate your generosity and so here are some ways. If you would like to help with our vet bills you can contact Troytown Equine Hospital on (045)521686 or Cottage Veterinary Clinic on (045)434848 and donate by debit/credit card or cheque. You can also donate through our fundraising page on Sponsor.ie or email us for Littlehill bank account details. If you would like to donate a bag of dog food you can contact Husse Ireland on 1800750750 and let them know it’s for us. Finally but most importantly of all, THANK YOU to those of you who have donated in the past or would like to donate now. We hope you know that your kindness has made the lives of our rescues profoundly better.

Littlehill on tour!
We depend on the generosity of the public for all of our income. We receive no government funding, and without the help and generosity of our supporters and fosterers, we would not be able to continue our work in rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming neglected and unwanted animals.

We were granted permits for a few days to fundraise in Dublin, and thanks to the overwhelming generosity of you, the animal lovers who support us, we will be able to clear some of our huge feed, hay and vet bills. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to those fantastic people who foster animals for us, while we find homes for them, mainly through social media. All of our rescued animals are neutered, microchipped, wormed and vaccinated before being re-homed.

Thank you for your generosity!