Rescue & Adoptions

Adoption Stories

Snowy and Shotzie's Story of Survival Finds a Happy Ending

Snowy is a duck to be reckoned with. Shotzie's no pushover, either. And if their ability to triumph over their painful pasts doesn't tell you that, their new adoptive parents can.

Both ducks resided at Farm Sanctuary's New York Shelter, and though they came to the sanctuary at different times, the circumstances leading to their arrivals are sadly similar.

Snowy was abandoned, found bloody and maimed perched on a park fence in Queens, New York. During her stay in the park, she was attacked by dogs, abused by rock-wielding teens and ignored by passersby. Eventually, a caller alerted New York City Animal Care & Control to her plight, and a humane agent intervened, ending her abuse and bringing her to safety. She came to our New York Shelter the first week of April.

Shotzie arrived in early 2007, after having been left behind following the death of his caretaker. Shotzie's feathered peers had already been removed from the property, but this boy was forgotten, wandering around in a neighbor's yard. The neighbor called us, and we gladly brought him to our shelter. When we examined Shotzie, we found he had a heart murmur—he wouldn't have survived much longer on his own, especially in the bitter February cold.

These days, the duo shows the same kind of grit and determination that got them this far—but the life-or-death circumstances they'd been accustomed to have evaporated. Snowy and Shotzie have a new home with Farm Sanctuary members Karen and Drea. They welcomed the two ducks and about 10 inches of snow to their central New York home one "spring" day in mid-April.

After the snow melted, the ducks' new lives began. Snowy and Shotzie began exploring their world in earnest, spending hours in the yard dabbling and swimming in a huge puddle. But soon the duo would set their eyes on a bigger prize: the pond.

Nestled between Karen and Drea's house and that of their neighbors, the pond proved an irresistible beacon. Once installed on the water, Snowy and Shotzie refused to leave. The new parents pulled out every trick in the book to coax them back to their duck house. Drea provided room service to the stubborn ducks, bringing them nourishing home-created meals. Karen dunked herself in frigid pond water, swimming out in an effort to herd their babies home.

But Snowy and Shotzie had none of it. Neither food nor company could convince the two to leave.

These days, if you look toward the pond next to Karen and Drea's house, what you see will probably not be a surprise: two birds, enjoying life to the fullest extent, and their proud parents building a new duck house on the edge of the water to help them do just that.

If you are interested in taking in a rescued duck or any other any other farm animal friend, please consider joining our Farm Animal Adoption Network!