What Is A Sanctuary?

 The simplest answer is that sanctuaries are a place of refuge where animals' needs come first. And that sounds great, but putting that into action is more complicated than it sounds. So, of course, we’re writing a blog about it. Inspired by Open Sanctuary and Microsanctuary Resource Center resources, we’re diving into what a sanctuary is… and what it’s not.

“It’s about whether the organization maintains a culture, philosophy, and strict policies around compassionate care, and conducts their day-to-day actions to ensure their residents are not subjected to exploitation.” - Open Sanctuary

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Where Chickens Live

Factory Farms focus on chickens as commodities. They are removed from their sentience (the ability to feel emotion & feel pain) by being labelled poultry. Care is limited to their production value, and there is zero focus on long-term health. 

Hobby & Backyard Chicken keeping sits at a unique intersection where animals are treated as pets but are still exploited for their production. They are still largely seen as property, using terms such as owner. Exploitation still occurs as care may be focused on eggs for human consumption and/or commodifying them for entertainment or breeding.

Sanctuaries provide a loving forever home, focusing on the best interests of the chickens for as long as they can live a healthy life worth living. We hope that people will begin to think compassionately about them and make choices that respect their dignity & autonomy.

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The Issues

Breeding 

Chickens are domesticated, meaning they’ve been bred to rely on humans for survival. Over hundreds of years, they’ve been selectively exploited so that humans can consume them and their eggs. There are hundreds of chicken breeds, and every fertilized egg has a 50% chance of being a male. Eggs must be incubated for ~21 days to hatch. 

Education

We live in a world of endless misinformation. Unlike other domesticated pets such as cats and dogs, there are few to no organizations that promote the humane treatment of chickens. Most humane societies do not accept chickens, and therefore, they do not teach about their care. This leaves folks to look for information online - a cesspool of DIY and cruel practices.

Capacity for Care

It’s hard to say no, but to ensure we stay true to our mission and live in alignment with our ethics, we have to. Even when someone shows up on our doorstep with two roosters in their car, saying they’ll kill them if we don’t take them. We believe that there are worse things than death.

Saying Yes Beyond Our Capacity -> Inability to Provide Individualized Care -> Animals Neglected

Depending on who you speak to, 21 chickens can either sound like a lot or not.  But saying "no" is a strict ethical boundary required to protect our current flocks’ quality of life, which prevents us from veering into neglect or hoarding. Animal hoarding is the accumulation of an unusually large number of pets that overwhelms an individual's ability to provide minimal standards of care, nutrition, sanitation, and veterinary treatment. When there are simply too many animals to be able to provide individualized care for, things can get missed. Skipping a monthly health check could be the difference between noticing a rapidly fatal condition. Inadvertent neglect can lead to prolonged suffering and cruelty. 

Shelter

Free-range isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. We believe caged hens experience some of the worst suffering imaginable, and in the greatest numbers. We also believe that every single chicken deserves a life worth living, and being attacked by a predator is also not okay.

Autonomy & Value

When you meet someone with chickens, ask them. What is the value of a chicken? 

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We also want to take a moment to recognize that not all sanctuaries are the same. Some businesses use the term sanctuary despite exploiting the animals that live there. There is currently no strict legal or regulatory definition of animal sanctuary. There is no registration required or governing body. While the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries exists, there are still limitations (i.e., cost, must be a registered charity) to applying, which means not all sanctuaries are able to be accredited, even if they’re doing fantastic work.