The story behind Back 2 Earth began with a dream. A dream for us to live a life based on kindness and compassion, to heal our health and to have as little footprint on the environment as possible. With these philosophies in mind we created Back 2 Earth, a raw vegan, organic health retreat, farm stay and animal sanctuary with about 75 animals.
Not all our animals at Back 2 Earth are rescued farm animals, however each one has their own unique, and often sad, story as to how they came to live with us. Back 2 Earth provides people with the opportunity to meet these beautiful, intelligent, kind animals and make a personal connection through spending quality time with them. Every one of our furry or feathered animals has their own personality, likes and dislikes, and social structure.
Thank you for making an online donation to Back 2 Earth, our work would not be possible without your help. Your much-needed contribution will be used to provide the 75+ animals who call Back 2 Earth home with safe haven, full bellies and veterinary care. Together, you and I, are making real change for animals.
Regular giving is an easy and flexible way to support Back 2 Earth on an ongoing basis. You can donate monthly or yearly or just make a one time donation. Your selected donation is automatically debited from your credit card. Clicking on the ‘Adopt Now’ button will give you the pay via PayPal or via a debit/credit card.
Our animal sponsorship also make fantastic and compassionate gifts for your family and friends. Please enter the name and the personal message to be printed on the e-Adoption Certificate when selecting your donation amount. If you have any questions, please contact us.
All donations over $300 will entitle you and a friend (2 people) to come and meet the Back 2 Earth furry friends and enjoy a raw vegan high tea. However, bookings are essential.
Please choose which of our wonderful animal residents you would like to sponsor. You will receive via email, a Back 2 Earth adoption certificate of your sponsored friend.
If you would like to donate using Direct Deposit / Bank Transfer, please use the following details. Once we receive payment we will be in touch via the email provided.
Alphie
Photo by Marisa Marzipan
So this is how adorable and healthy a goat can look… however it was not always so for Alphie.
He started off his young life in a truck speeding down the road with many other baby goats. As the unknowing driver sped along, the back gate of the truck opened and goats began falling out onto the road. Some were killed or badly injured. Drivers stopped to help the kids. The vets and pound ended up with 11 goats who needed medical attention, care and a home.
One of these goats was Alphie.
The pound re-homed Alphie, and he went to good homes where he was looked after and loved, however for one reason or another 4 families were unable to keep him, and each time he landed back at the pound, looking for yet another home. We have been able to provide him with his forever home. He has fitted in with most of our animals although our other buck (male goat) Pegasus’ nose is out of joint as Alphie is flirting with his girls…
Budgie
Notwithstanding his name, Budgie is in fact a rabbit. Budgie, along with his mate, Cockatiel, a Guinea Pig, came to us as rescues. They had lived in a 2×1 m Budgie and cockatiel aviary, with over 200 birds flying over and pooping on their heads. They lived off bird seeds and food scraps. How these 2 survived these unsanitary conditions, I will never know…
We set them up in a rabbit coop within our rabbit enclosure so that they could familiarize themselves with our bunnies and guinea pigs. We had them health checked and desexed, and after a few weeks tried to bond them into the larger enclosure. Cockatiel found and settled right in with the other Guinea pigs, it was love at first sight. However, it was a very different story for Budgie. He had never been socialized with other bunnies before and letting him loose in a cage with 20 other bunnies was very daunting for him. He quickly worked out who was the leader, and started attacking.
For those of you who don’t know, when bunnies fight it is often to the death. Very scary indeed. We separated them, and banished Budgie back into his coop again. This time on his own, as Cockatiel was completely integrated. A few weeks later we tried again, but this time our normally gentle bunnies, ganged up and attacked Budgie. Another aborted bonding experience. By this stage, we thought that we were never going to bond him, and started planning for him to be re-homed. The day we were going to re-home him, we went into the enclosure to discover he had escaped and was running around freely and contentedly with the other (20) bunnies. He bonded himself and now is (not fully) integrated into our bountiful, bunny enclosure. He still tends to stick to himself, but happily shares food and there is no more fighting.
Jasper
Photo by Marisa Marzipan
As a farmer, gardener and animal rescuer, it doesn’t take much to make our day. We love this fact as we have learnt through the efforts and endeavours of our hard work at Back 2 Earth that you don’t need much from this world to make you happy and content. The friendly gesture, the trust of an animal keeps us grounded and knowing that what we do, every day, is rich with meaning. Jasper, and his buddy donkey, Puddles came to us through the pound.
Jasper had been very badly abused as a young colt, and beaten on the head. He came to us a few weeks ago, skittish, dishevelled, dirty and wouldn’t let us close. Now, each time we go into the paddocks, Jasper is a little more curious, friendly, and confident. He has a long way to go, but we have been able to hand feed him, harness him, groom him, and clean his hooves. These are HUGE steps for a horse who has never known the kindness of people.
Squishy
Photo by Marisa Marzipan
Never have I met a puppy so well behaved, so eager to please, so quick to learn and so, so very clever. Squishy is a Border Collie cross kelpie (we think) who landed up at 3 weeks old, flea infested, malnourished and dehydrated, along with his 6 other siblings, in a trash can!! Stories like this make me mad and cynical about the human race. All these puppies landed up with the Animal Welfare League who patiently fed, nursed and cared them back to health. At 8 weeks old, Squishy found himself on a plane to meet his forever family at Back 2 Earth.
From day one, he caused disruption in the harmonious lives of our cocker spaniels and kittens. He never takes “no” for an answer, bites and chews everything in sight, barks in the animals faces and has no respect for personal space and animal boundaries, however his fun-loving attitude, charm and fun-loving nature has won over all the animals. They started off tolerating him, then they allowed him to sit next to them, this progressed to them seeking him out, and now they are all inseparable and spend the days (and nights) playing, chewing, chasing and cuddling together. For Marc and I, he had won our hearts within minutes of meeting him.
