March 2025

Hello dear readers.

I told you in the March newsletter that this time I would tell you how much work animal welfare means.
A promise is a promise, and now I hope you enjoy reading it.

Our motivation: With a heart for the animals

If you have made the decision to stand up for the poor, abandoned, mistreated, sometimes seriously injured animals or animals kept in miserable conditions, then you are doing it out of passion. Animal welfare is not a profession. Animal welfare is a dedication to help the poor souls, because this help is urgently needed in many places.
At Animal Police, we are all there for the animals with a lot of heart every day. When the Swiss animal welfare organisation Animal Police was founded, Finca Noah was created and more and more animals found refuge over time, the daily work naturally also grew. Every morning, around 260 hungry animals look at us impatiently. In the species-appropriate enclosures, which have been lovingly and painstakingly built and furnished for each individual species, we give them the opportunity to enjoy life again and regain their trust in humans. Our aim is for them to leave their mostly traumatic experiences and histories behind them and to be able to approach people again with great joy. In order for them to become and remain healthy, it is not only important to have the animals treated by a vet. Their environment must also be cared for, and this is where our daily work in animal welfare begins. Only a clean and well-kept place offers the animals the opportunity to feel comfortable. We rescue animals from bad, neglected and dirty conditions. They more than deserve to have an oasis of well-being now.

Our everyday life at Finca Noah

The meticulous cleaning, the tidiness and the attention to detail can make you sweat, because it means a lot of work. When I say that every stone has its place here, I mean it 100 per cent. The meticulous tidiness and cleanliness is no coincidence. Farah is a bit extreme when it comes to this.
Each animal species and each enclosure is individually cared for. By care we mean that the poo is removed from the dogs and cats, the water and food bowls are cleaned daily and of course refilled. The same goes for the dog pools. They are available to every dog, they love it. The sleeping areas, blankets, pillows and beds are cleaned and disinfected twice a day, morning and evening.
The washing machines run almost continuously.
Fresh food (fruit and vegetables) is prepared daily for our rabbits, rabbits, pigeons, agarponis, budgerigars and cockatiels, who all live together peacefully in the largest aviary in Mallorca. Everyone has their own favourites, which we are very happy to treat the animals to, and we go shopping for this every week.
Farm animals such as horses and donkeys make somewhat larger piles, which requires physical labour, because large animals also make large piles of manure/dirt. We don't have any machines that would make our work easier. It's all manual labour for us. The bales of straw that we regularly have to lift into the hay rack with muscle power are not only eaten with relish by the horses, they also take great pleasure in spreading the straw all over the field, which for us means sweeping, sweeping, sweeping....
Swiss animal welfare organisation also means Swiss thoroughness.
Our chickens, peacocks, geese and ducks enjoy the pool and the several water basins which, after a long bath, look as if they would rather have a mud bath. Of course, we scrub them every day so that they look as good as new.
The sheep, our Shetland pony Rambo, Coco the deer and some chickens share an area of 3000 square metres, where we pick up the little sheep scat. Because these are a thorn in the side of Animal Police founder, Farah de Tomi. As meticulously as she sweeps up the pellets, you could be forgiven for thinking she has an allergy to them. Depending on the weather, it is a real challenge to catch every single little "pellet". In strong winds, they literally fly around your ears.
We also take the time to pamper the animals with cuddles while we prepare everything for them. Many of the animals have grown up with us and are therefore very trusting and seek closeness to humans. Each in its own way. Some sheep think they are dogs because they were bottle-fed in a pack of dogs. We have cats that listen to our every word. And birds that would love to sit on your shoulder 24 hours a day.
They love and enjoy the attention from us and every helper or visitor. In addition to our daily work, we also take the time to show our visitors around the farm, to explain and explain everything to them.
We take the dogs for a walk every day. That sounds like the easiest thing in the world. But we don't just have trained and perfectly obedient dogs/animals here. Each one has its own personal history, experience and trauma, which makes a walk with currently 16 dogs almost an organisational feat. Not every dog can walk in a pack. This means we have to separate them from each other. Nevertheless, our aim is that they can all live together and respect each other, because here at Finca Noah we want them to live together peacefully.