TAKE five horses, seven lambs, four pigs, more than 90 chickens
and four piglets. Add a few dozen ducks, geese, ducklings, cats, dogs
and guinea pigs, and you have Forever After Animal Rescue in Parwan,
operated by Brittany Cheeseman, 23, and her parents Dean and Sarah.
“It all started about a year and a half ago when we moved back
onto acreage,” Brittany said. “One day this little black sheep came
wandering onto our property. We couldn’t find his owners, and it sort of
grew from him.”
The trio are experienced horseriders and animal rights
enthusiasts, with Brittany and Dean employed full-time at Mick Price
Racing as stablehands and strappers.
“Our thoughts were we’ve got the licence, we’ve got the land, so
let’s do what we love most and spend time with the animals,” Brittany
said.
Forever After has been officially open for only a few weeks,
though the Cheesemans have been taking in animals for six months as
their network has expanded.
“We mainly look after livestock, anything that can potentially go to a knackery.”
Brittany said she was waiting for a delivery of 50 broiler
chickens. “They’re just seen as meat and injected with hormones until
they can’t move any more and their legs collapse.
“We don’t say ‘don’t eat meat’, but there’s a humane way to do
things. They don’t deserve to be abandoned, not fed, tortured, and
that’s what we see every day. Horses that haven’t been fed for six
months whose feet are so overgrown that they can’t walk.”
Brittany said while the running costs of Forever After were high, it was “so worth it”.
She encouraged anyone who came across an abandoned or injured
animal to contact the farm. “Let’s give them the forever after they may
not otherwise get. We’re not the RSPCA or an adoption agency, we just
want to keep the animals here where we know they’ll be happy.”
Details: 0434 512 399.
