Habitat for Animals and Plants
Here is a brief chronicle about the development of the association and haven for peace “Home for Animals,” with stories about the fate of several individual animals as well as many projects that have been carried out on the haven for peace over the past 10 years. How everything started on a very small scale and grew …
1996 5 animals
And this is how it started …
The first animals were taken in (as gifts) one after the other at the end of
1996. They were housed and cared for in rented barns in Höhefeld: 2 horses,
3 donkeys, a pot-bellied pig, a dog, a rooster … Already then we started
looking for a small farm where they would find a real home.
1997 30 animals
In July 1197 the farm we had been searched for – the Johannishof – was
offered to us to purchase. The farm included circa 2 hectares of land. The
purchase price was very high – but nevertheless it was clear to us that it
was the right farm for a home for the animals. We bought it and paid it off
over many years. This is how the farm looked when we took it over in October
1997.
The barn was filled to the attic with all sorts of stuff and was also in
very bad condition. There was no useable barnyard.
1998 55 animals
The animals were to find finished stalls: first a huge cleanup and
cleanout action, then after good planning, the expansion of the stalls in
the barn.
Right on time, our animals moved in on March 21, 1998. The horses got a new
barnyard, and 5 cows moved to the farm. Otherwise they would have been
slaughtered. We took over 2 cats who were already living on the farm and
nursed them to health.
1990 70 animals
In the spring of 1999, we started with new plantings along the edges of
the meadows. Young angora goats joined our sheep and goat herds. We rescued
2 pot-bellied pigs from the slaughterhouse. The first spaces for rabbits and
cats were built. The water supply was newly established.
And the first peacocks arrived.
2000 90 animals
Via many guided tours of the farm for animal friends, as well as
seminars, slide shows and videos, “Home for Animals” has become better and
better known, and we reach more animal friends who affirm our goals and
financially support “Home for Animals.”
In the Fall of 2000, roofed enclosures were built for our feathered friends,
in which peacocks, ducks and geese raise their children. The kitchen where
the animals’ meals are prepared was expanded with a very practical set-up.
2001 120 animals
Two motherless baby wild pigs were bottle-fed and grew to be big and
strong. A large enclosure was build for the wild pigs. Two Scottish Highland
cows were rescued from slaughter during the Mad Cow Disease crisis.
A duck pond was dug out of the clay soil on a newly acquired piece of land.
2002 150 animals
We built a clean, covered eating place and a roomy shelter for the wild
pigs, a big new chicken house by the duck pond and a barn for straw and hay.
For weeks we nursed an old and very sick sheep named Claudette until she
died peacefully.
2003 185 animals
During the cold month of January 2003, we were able to rescue a small herd of sheep from freezing and starving to death. One small lamb was so weak we had to bottle-feed it. We set up a much-needed nursing station for them in the barn where we were able to examine the new arrivals and nurse the sick ones back to health.
2004 200 animals
A newly acquired 2.4 hectares became a pasture for lamas, alpacas, sheep
and horses, enclosed by Benjes hedges.
The complete renovation of the barn roof was finished.
A family of three Cameroon sheep (here Maya and Lela) was saved from a
rundown animal farm.
2005 220 animals
In order to secure the food supply for the animals, we built a storage barn for straw and hay. Two turkeys joined the farm; and five ducks and four geese that had been saved from the butcher found a new and peaceful home here, complete with a new duck house.
2006 10-year anniversary celebration
Visit the animals in the haven for peace!