The Rooster Project

Greetings, and thank you again for your support of The Rooster Project!

It's springtime here in Vermont, and all of the roosters are very happy about that! Sunrise comes early, and the crowing begins immediately. If the person assigned to morning chores is late by even a few minutes in opening the coop doors, complaints commence.

That's one reason why we never call ourselves "the voice of the voiceless" -- we know that animals have their own voices, because we hear them every day. We do our best to listen, so that we can be good allies to the roosters and other animals here at the sanctuary.

Listening to animal voices will be the theme of our upcoming presentation at the Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit on May 19th, in a session entitled "Animal Voices: What Animals Are Telling Us." Since we have learned so much from roosters, you know that they will be prominently featured in our remarks. I'll also be delivering the closing keynote for that conference, again encouraging animal advocates to listen to roosters and other animals.

A couple of times this quarter, we have reached out to our Rapid Response Network, looking for homes or drivers for rescued roosters. So, let me remind you that we are ALWAYS looking for volunteers anywhere in the USA who can be called upon in the event that rescued roosters need to be driven to sanctuaries. Sign up to volunteer here.

Among the new roosters at VINE this quarter is Julio, who had previously lived only with hens. He initially seemed startled to be suddenly among so many other roosters, but he quickly learned how to interact, recognizing when other roosters wanted him to keep his distance and when they were open to closer contact. The morning after the afternoon he arrived, he was mingling freely without any conflicts at all.

According to the stereotypes about roosters, that's impossible. Our forthcoming book will dispell those rumors while teaching people who want to rescue roosters how to foster healthy and peaceful flocks. Several sanctuaries have contributed their own rooster stories to what we hope will be an engaging and enjoyable as well as instructive book. We're running a little behind our publication schedule but still hope to have it out by the end of the month or very shortly thereafter.

We'll be sure to let you know when it's available. In the meantime, THANKS AGAIN for supporting The Rooster Proiject by VINE Sanctuary via GlobalGiving!