Can you help Woody and George find dry land?
Since our NAWT Berkshire centre opened their doors, the farm has unfortunately been prone to flooding. Over the years, we have put in as much flood prevention as possible without impacting the local village, but this time it sadly wasn’t enough.
Although many may think the water is a picturesque addition to the farm, the flowing river has made its way across four of our fields. This has caused a lot of stress and confusion to our animals, especially for two of our goats Woody and George.
They are finding the rising water rather scary, as it has invaded their paddock and are refusing to come down off their elevated platforms, even when bribed with food.
The majority of the other field animals have been moved to higher ground, but our goats, Woody and George, have been confined to a smaller area. This is because 2 out of 3 of their fields inside their paddock is flooded, and as the water level has continued to rise, so has their fear.
We will continue to monitor the situation, because if their home becomes completely flooded, we will of course move them. However, we are trying to avoid this where possible, as this would mean moving them into a field that has no enrichment.
Not only has this affected our field animals, but our dogs too. Currently we are still able to walk our dogs around the waterway, but are unable to access the large dog run, meaning we have nowhere to let them enjoy enriched play time securely off lead.
We are also closely monitoring as the water is now verging on the edge of compromising our cesspit. This would cause effluent to be brought back up, making the fields completely off limits.
Another major concern is if the levels continue to rise and flood our driveway, which has happened before, this could create more problems. This would mean we would have to close our doors, resulting in a financial loss of £525 a day, and prohibit us from carrying out our crucial work rehoming the animals in our care.
Although we have had to make many changes to our day-to-day routine at the centre, our main priority is the damage that has been caused and getting it back to being safe for the animals again.
We have sadly experienced extensive property damage to the ground, our fencing, and our animal housing. To repair these damages, we have estimated a cost of £10,000, which has taken a huge hit on us as a charity.
We are desperately asking for your help in what is a really difficult time for us. If even just half of our supporter database donated £2 each, that would cover these costs in no time, helping to get animals like Woody and George back to dry land as soon as possible.