Our Patron - Dame Joanna Lumley OBE

“When I saw the dreadful photographs that Janet had taken in markets I wept. Sick little orphan baby lambs, some of them only a few days old, freezing cold and hungry, some of who died before they could receive veterinary care. Thin and emaciated old sheep with crippled feet, at the end of their useful life being sold to go forward for Halal slaughter. Frightened, bewildered, gentle cattle being beaten over their heads and backs with thick sticks. Old pigs, so stressed by their surroundings they chewed the bars of their pens until their mouths bled.

“I had no idea that this kind of thing went on in this country, we’re known as a nation of animal lovers. Janet asked for my help and support in any way possible to stand up for farm animals, to help give them a voice and to raise public awareness about farm animal welfare. I was happy to become the patron of the Farm Animal Sanctuary.

“All farm animals are sentient beings, they experience pain and fear, all species are caring, protective mothers and they all deserve so much better.

“It’s such a joy to see the animals who have found their way to the Sanctuary. They know they are safe. They look contented, confident and peaceful, the young ones so full of life. Not enough people seem to care about them, and there are not enough places for them to go. We do need your help and your support to keep the Sanctuary going, please don’t forget them. Thank you.

“The Farm Animal Sanctuary has always treated each creature in its care as an individual. Janet Taylor knows them all by name and habit: what they like to eat, where they go when they are in a bad mood, how they leap about when they are happy and how wily they can be in preparing to breach a fence or nick someone else’s food. For this reason almost above all others I love being the patron of such an enlightened set-up: despite being on the brink of penury for much of its existence it nevertheless continues to offer safety and a loving understanding to animals who have been thrown on the scrap-heap. The newsletters talk of the farm animals as others would write of friends and family; scrapes, mishaps triumphs, losses and terribly funny incidents; you realise that you are reading about living beings with different characters and needs.

The Farm Animal Sanctuary is beyond reproach.”