Baby Chicks Left Abandoned at Wheeler Farm
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – APRIL 7, 2015 (GEPHARDT DAILY) – Today, workers at Wheeler Farm found a plastic bag tied up at the Machinery Barn and inside they found three baby chicks that had been abandoned. Luckily they were all still alive.
Just last week a post on the Wheeler Farm Facebook urged those considering buying a furry friend for Easter to reconsider their plans.
“Dear Friends, as we approach Easter, we want to remind you that buying live bunnies, chicks and ducks is a lifetime commitment and not just an Easter Basket filler.” The post added that people often buy the cute chicks, bunnies, and geese and then think they can just dump them off anywhere, but that is not a reasonable option.
Raegan Scharman, program co-ordinator at Wheeler Farm, urges people to simply not purchase an animal if they are not capable of taking care of it. “We do not have baby chicks here,” said another Facebook post put up today. “There are several reasons for that. One of them is that we do not have a safe place to keep them from all that nature offers up. Other reasons are special food, heat etc.. Bottom line is that we are not set up to take care of baby birds.”
As certain holidays approach they try as best as they can to let others know that a lot goes into raising and caring for animals.
“As much as we love animals we can’t take care of more than we are set up for,” says Scharman. Every year agencies see a spike in abandoned animals at what people think are drop-off locations. The animal shelter, Best Friends, and the Humane Society also see people leaving little critters just after the holiday is over.
“You don’t buy children just for the cute Christmas photo so why buy an animal just for the effects of the holiday?” added Scharman.
One particular teacher uses the cycle of the chicken as a project for her classrooms and then after the baby chicks hatch she abandons them, said Scharman. “After we told her we would not take them because we did not have the facility for them, she left them by the front of the gate. The weather was very cold and one of the chicks died as a result,” she said.
Wheeler Farm is hoping to keep spreading awareness in hopes that more people will realize it is a better option to just buy a stuffed animal that their children can actually keep.
