Not many people know what an animal sanctuary is. It is often confused with a shelter. There is a nice explanation given by juliana’s animal sanctuary: “Shelters are a temporary solution for homeless animals until they can move into a new home, whereas sanctuaries tend to be a more permanent solution for an animal.”
For a long time, I’ve wanted to visit such a sanctuary. I love the initiative but unfortunately, it is not popular yet in the country where I live. Finally, I decided to go to one. Honestly, it was my main motivation to travel to Tenerife, and I loved the trip.
The sanctuary which I visited is called Finca Arkadia. It is in the northern part of Tenerife, next to la Orotava. I went there for a day, to volunteer.
Firstly, I was amazed by the beauty of the whole place. It looked like a paradise. At Finca Arkadia there are more than 100 rescued animals, mostly chickens, but there are also ducks, pigs, and cats. All of them have their names. All of them have different personalities. And all of them are loved. The sanctuary is surrounded by mountains and there is a gorgeous ocean view.
The place is owned by a vegan couple: Raquel and Nello. They rescued the animals and now they are working as much as they can to give a decent life to all of them.
It is not an easy task though. It requires not only much physical work but also knowledge, commitment, and of course, money.
Let me tell you more about the place.
The days there look similar and start with the preparation of food and feeding the animals. I was really amazed with their way of doing it!
You start by cutting the fruits and vegetables. They are very ripe and are donated by local vendors. Such a beautiful idea! Instead of throwing away the fruits and vegetables that are less likely to be sold, you give them to animals!
After cutting, the food is mixed with some grains. And do you know what they do with the eggs that they collect from the chickens? They give them back, adding eggs to the rest of the food.
Due to genetic changes that people perform on hens, they lay more eggs than they would do in nature. Much more. And this process is painful for them, removing necessary ingredients from their bodies. That is why most chickens have problems with their skin and feathers.
Therefore, at Finca Arkadia, some hens already have implants that stop them from laying eggs. As a result, their feathers are shining and their health condition improves. However, it is very costly to put and maintain these implants. It is Nello’s and Raquel’s dream that all chickens have them.
Hopefully, in the future.
After preparing the food, feeding time comes. First, the food is given to the ducks and chickens. While feeding there is a need to clean the area as well. It really takes some time. After the chickens, it is time to feed the pigs. How beautiful these pigs are!
They ate their food and then they came to take a shower!
We really underestimate pigs in our culture. They are very intelligent creatures and very clean as well. They decide where their toilet is and the rest of the area is clean. They have amazing personalities. They require love and attention.
All of these tasks; preparing food, carrying it, cleaning, feeding, takes a couple of hours! And often Nello does it all alone, that is why he appreciates help from volunteers. When some of them come, additional projects can be done.
When I was there, we were building a home for chickens from old pallets. It took us 4 hours and that day there were 5 of us.
I visited Finca Arkadia once more during my stay in Tenerife. We repeated the same routine of cutting fruits and vegetables and feeding the animals.
I talked with Nello and Raquel about their challenges. It is a huge responsibility to take care of this amount of animals. Some animals get sick, some require special care. Very often Nello feeds the animals by himself in the mornings. Raquel is often busy with their restaurant, Sweet Paradise, where she prepares delicious vegan meals. I also had a chat with them about feeding cats vegan food. Because honestly, it bothers me so much to have an animal that you feed with other animals. I am also aware of the nature of cats: that they are carnivores. Surprisingly, Nello said that it is ok to give cats vegan food. There is a brand called Veggie Animals. They produce plant-based foods for cats and dogs. I don’t have enough knowledge about animal nutrition but I was happy to see happy and healthy cats at Finca Arkadia.
Moreover, Raquel and Nello told me for the first time about the Liberation Pledge. This is the way of being an animal activist in your everyday life. The idea caught my attention. I am planning to write a separate blog post about it.
It is my dream to open an animal sanctuary in the future. However, I can see how much work it takes. For some people, it sounds exciting to rescue animals, to save them from being killed and maltreated. But this is only the first step. Such animals require special care, good conditions, and constant attention for many years afterward.
I am so happy to have met Raquel and Nello. It is such a sacrifice to be committed to keeping such a sanctuary. All of their everyday efforts are focused on giving a good life to defenseless creatures. Moreover, they are doing their best to maintain a zero-waste lifestyle. They give so much love to the animals they keep. And they expect nothing in return. I wish there were more people like that.
After coming back to Poland, I am still in touch with them. I found out that recently they got another animal, a cat. And how did it happen? They were on a highway and they saw that somebody threw something from a car. It turned out, it was a kitten. Luckily and surprisingly, nothing happened to the animal. They took him home and named him Aini.
Sometimes I lose my faith in people…how can we be capable of such cruelty that we do to animals. Thanks to such people like Raquel and Nello I can believe in human beings again. That there are people for whom all lives matter. Who fight for the idea of being equal. Your species does not matter. We all share this world.
If you are eager to help the animals at Finca Arkadia, you can join their teaming, as I did. With 1 euro a month, a group of people can collect a nice sum of money. In some time they will open a program for sponsoring an animal. I hope that such initiatives for animal sanctuaries will keep growing all around the world.
