Meet Chicken Cluck Cluck.
This poor little girl was hiding in a bunch of recycling boxes huddled from the cold outside our New York apartment.
Yep. New York City.
Why the hell would a chicken be wandering the streets of the city, you might ask. Well, unfortunately, there is a slaughterhouse several blocks down in an adjoining neighborhood and I think that Chicken Cluck Cluck jumped the coop as they say.
I must admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for those who have tricked certain death. Therefore, there was only one thing to do….
Bring the random live chicken walking the streets of this city into our apartment.
Burke figured out a way to get her into a box, and up to the apartment she went. She was hungry and had a scab on the bottom of one of her feet, but besides that she was in good spirits.
She stayed with us for a week and I have to say, I got very attached to her. If I wasn’t already a Vegetarian (which I have been since I was 12), I would have definitely become one. You could really see her sweet personality…and I couldn’t imagine anyone killing her.
When I was in high school in Florida, I read an inspiring article about a place called the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. I was touched by the story and sponsored two animals on the farm – a goat and a pig. Fast forward to now, and my apartment is only two hours away from the Sanctuary. I was hoping they would possibly take her in.
Yesterday, Burke and I made the two hour drive with Chicken Cluck Cluck. The people at the Farm Sanctuary were amazingly sweet. You can tell they really care about what they do. About five of the volunteers there came out to greet the little chicken. They said she was young and in excellent condition. She is a “fancy” chicken they said (you go, girl! I knew you were fancy!). And she is there now, in a luxury suite before she gets integrated into the coop with the other chickens.
I will be back in the Spring to volunteer and to see my little chicken friend walking around freely in the sunshine. For those of you who are interested in volunteering or sponsoring an animal – you can check out their website here.
My heart is so happy that this chicken with a bad future in the city ended up on a gorgeous farm tucked away in the beautiful Catskill mountains. I am so grateful for the people at the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary that they could take her in. When we left, we walked out into a beautiful clear winter night in the mountains, with snow on the ground and a hammock shaped crescent moon in the sky. I felt my heart fill with happiness with the good that is in the world and that Chicken Cluck Cluck didn’t have to die, and is safe somewhere out there under the stars…
and that, my friends, makes me love the world quite a bit more.