“If we could live happy and healthy lives without harming others, why wouldn’t we?”
This is the sign that greeted us as we walked into Edgar’s Mission – an animal sanctuary about an hour north of Melbourne in a town called Lancefield.
We arrived a couple of minutes past our tour start time, so we quickly made our way up the path toward the tour group of around 25 people heading through a gate into the home of hens and roosters.
We met our tour host Kyle and his sidekick Ruby the dog. He gave us a safety brief and then told us a bit about the chicken industry and some stories of the roosters and hens that live there. They all have their own names and personalities. He was explaining that the roosters always let the hens eat first and unlike humans, the male birds are always prettier than females. We got given seeds to feed the chickens with and they swarmed each and every one of us as they lapped up their lunch.
Kyle led us up the path towards the rabbit enclosure. We encountered a few friendly cats along the way that we said hello to. The rabbits are kept in an enclosure surrounded with mosquito netting to prevent Myxomatosis – a deadly disease spread by mosquitos that can lead to an ugly and horrible death.
Across the pathway was an enclosure with a few sheep who require extra care. There we met Lemonade, Sixty-two and Annabell. Sixty-two is totally blind and in order to feed her you have to repeatedly call her name so she can hone in on where you are. Her best friend is Annabell who just happens to have a jingly bell around her neck so Sixty-two can easily locate her.
A bit further up the pathway we came upon an enclosure with a few little lambs that had been rescued. There was an adorable little lamb in there, just a few weeks old called Elmo. He melted everyone’s heart.
Following the pathway ahead we found ourselves passing by pigs and pastures. One of the pastures had a couple of rescued cows. One of the cows came to the fence to greet us, or was it to eat? We may never know for certain. After being robbed of wheatbix which was being handed around to feed the cow we ventured back down the same path to enter the pig fields.
We had never touched a pig snout before and had such a different idea in our heads from what it truly is. These big pigs are super playful and mostly polite. They are never too busy for a belly rub either.
After another walk down this beautiful pathway maintained with nicely groomed trees on the left we had arrived at another sheep paddock. These sheep were massive and you could lose your hand in their wool quite easily. Once again all food was stolen very quickly, you really had to be on your game while taking photos and feeding them at the same time. We spotted a few llamas grazing off in the distance who eventually came over in their selective group to see what all the commotion was about.
The light rain felt quite uncomfortable now that the wind had really set in. There was one last stop on this beautiful journey and that was the goats! We walked back up the beautiful pathway filled with trees on the right side this time and found the secret gate to what we thought were the most lively group of goats we’ve ever come across. With one look from the goats and they were stampeding toward us with glee written all over their faces. They came in many shapes and sizes and were very eager to get up close and personal with us.
Then we found ourselves back where we began ready to go off on our next adventure for some vegan food!
We highly recommend going on a tour at Edgar’s – it’s highly informative, and you get to pat, play with and take photos of beautiful animals! You can book a tour on their website here.
Please consider making a donation to Edgar’s Mission to help them with upkeep of the property and feeding and maintenance of the animals.
