Hi, we are Arty's Angels, a group of animal lovers who have come together to undertake a hugely important rescue mission.
So can we start by telling you Arty's story, a story that starts with cruelty, indifference and utter despair but is now one of hope, friendship and bucket loads of love?
Arty is a sheep, some might say just a sheep, but to his human family, he is a beautiful, intelligent, courageous woolly miracle, who was born scrawny and weak and destined to die on a farm with a long history of unabated animal abuse.
Arty was found, tiny and sickly, but very much alive, deposited in a plastic sack of rotting, maggoty lamb corpses. If you're wondering if you've read that right, you have, and yes it was as horrific as it sounds, the death that awaited this delicate and fragile little bundle of wool would have been long, and full of unimaginable suffering. How many lambs, only moments old, would have met their end this way? Arty was certainly not the first to have been discarded like this, and I can only begin to imagine the horror that had gone before him. However Arty was lucky, because he was rescued, not by an angel, but by someone who vowed to be his salvation. Days and nights followed, cradled in the arms of people who loved him, and he started to fight. He fought, and he fought with everything he had until one day this tiny feeble little chap, stood up on wobbly little legs, and took his first step on his journey to freedom.
Arty is now a rather handsome, utterly loveable, and ever so slightly annoying two year old sheep, who knows his name, and is extremely partial to a belly rub. Arty now hangs out with his best friends, all rescued from the same farm, and all with their own heartbreaking stories to tell.
I could tell you hundreds of stories from that farm, stories that would make you weep and some that might give you nightmares, but Arty has asked me not to cause you further distress because the horror of his story, he hopes will be enough to inspire you to help him save his friends.
Arty's Angels have a unique opportunity to rescue some of the animals that have suffered terribly on this farm. We have a wonderful group of adopters who have offered to change the narrative for these animals. From sanctuaries to enthusiasts, the one thing that unites these wonderful people is their compassion and understanding that these gentle, intelligent, social animals, are so much more than food on a plate.
The farm is now closing, and although this should be the animal's salvation, it is instead, going to be their demise. There are over 300 ewes, lambs and intact males on the farm, and Arty has asked us to try and save them. He wants them to have the same incredible life that he now has, and we have promised him that we will do everything in our power to help. The animals we can't save, will end up losing their life on the abattoir floor, so we want to save as many as we can.
Sadly we have to buy the animals from the farm, and knowing the cost and commitment involved in giving these abused and mistreated animals a forever home, we are hoping to offer the animals up for adoption at no cost to the adopters.
So will you join us, will you help Arty to save his friends, and become an angel to all of these desperate souls, in the hope that their story ends frolicking in green fields and not shaking in terror as they await their fate in the slaughterhouse?
Thank you from Arty, and all the other little Arty's awaiting their chance of salvation.
