At around 15 acres it might be about the size of your typical lifestyle block, but Anna Dahlberg’s rural Te Mata property’s no hobby farm. Rather, it’s something of an antithesis to old-school farming: a refuge run by a dedicated animal lover who believes in being kind to everything that lives.
Incredibly, it’s been a full 10 years now since Anna opened her Paws Awhile Animal Sanctuary on a rise near the Te Mata end of Te Hutewai Rd.
And while it can be an isolated existence at times, Anna uses the word ‘we’ to describe her living situation. “That’s because the animals are my family,” she told the Local Rag.
Indeed they are. Anna has seven cows, four Kunekune pigs, three donkeys, two miniature horses, five dogs, two cats and an assortment of ducks and hens including a blind Stevie – named after Stevie Nicks, not Stevie Wonder – and the soft grey-feathered Clarissa who’s very big for a chook.
Every animal has a name, says Anna, and “everybody here is a permanent resident”.
They’re all “rescues”, she adds, whether that be from a decade ago or more recently. She’s adamant they will live their natural lives out at Paws Awhile.
There are also two bobby calves, Gabriella and Sophia, who will soon be off to their forever home. The picture-perfect siblings are “surplus to the dairy industry”, Anna says, and come from a kindly local farmer.
About this time of year Anna houses as many bobby calves as she can find homes for. Her regular Facebook posts ask for someone with land and a big heart “to save these babies from slaughter”. The sad fact is that they were born to die so their mothers can be milked for the dairy industry, she explains.
Around two million are killed annually, Anna adds.
Bobby calves and dogs are the main focus of Anna’s rescue work although, she stresses, she can’t take on any more dogs at the moment. Most recently there’s been much time and money spent rehabilitating a couple of life-chained dogs with multiple medical issues, in the hope of rehoming them.
“It can be a very heartbreaking job”, Anna says. “I see a lot of cruelty to animals.”
But it’s also rewarding, says this gutsy 54 year old, even if she’s tied to her work seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Many doubted Anna’s ability to realise her dream, she recalls, but she maintained that “if I failed at least I tried”. A decade on, Anna has no regrets, although worries about sustaining the venture given Paws Awhile runs at a loss.
She has help, though not enough. A couple of ‘woofers’ were there feeding chickens and grooming donkeys Del Boy, Fred and Barney when the Local Rag called in last week. Other volunteer workers are thin on the ground despite regular working bees. “I struggle to get them to come.”
Raglan Food Co – perhaps better known for its coconut yoghurt – donates monthly towards Paws Awhile’s astronomical vet bills because “we are a team of animal lovers”, believing animals should be treated with respect and kindness.
But most of the bills are covered by Anna’s part-time job as a registered nurse, while she takes on the hard graft alone to minimize expenses. That’s typically 12 to 18 hour days of often heavy work lifting hay bales and the like.
So what keeps Anna going? It’s her belief, she says, that animals are sentient beings. They feel happiness, love, fear and pain, she insists, and they also want to live. She rescues animals from abuse or neglect simply to rehome them so they can live their best life.
There’s a saying – I lost my mind but found my soul – “that pretty much sums up my experience,” she reckons.
Anna sets high standards of care at Paws Awhile and expects those adopting their “pets” to treat them as such. New owners must commit to a contract ensuring they will not be used for breeding, milking or meat.
She welcomes visitors to the sanctuary so people can see for themselves how animals should be treated. And there are opportunities to help out at bi-monthly working bees, which are followed by a plant-based shared meal where animal lovers get to “korero” with like-minded souls.
Team-building days can be arranged, she adds, giving participants up-close-and-personal time with the animals. “They teach us a lot about love, kindness and loyalty.”
Building skills are also invaluable for projects the sanctuary is undertaking, while financial support is forever in short supply for those ongoing vet bills.
See Paws Awhile Animal Sanctuary’s Facebook page for more information.
By Edith Symes
