Rescue & Adoptions

In Loving Memory

Isis

In November of 1998, Isis and another Peking duck named Artemus, came to live at our California Shelter. The two beautiful ducks had wandered off the streets and into the yard of an elderly couple in Red Bluff, California. The loving couple who found Isis and Artemus had no idea where the ducks had come from, but thankfully, they wanted to find the birds a safe and happy home. When they called us, we eagerly agreed to help.

Isis shared her first few years at Farm Sanctuary with her dear friend Artemus, whom she loved above all other ducks. When he passed away, she mourned for a time, but bravely pulled through with the help of a new companion named Annie. Given their own spacious green pasture and a private pond to swim in, Isis and Annie had all the things any duck could ask for in a home. They especially enjoyed time spent paddling in the cool water together and lying in the grass under the old shade tree that shielded them from the summer sun.

Isis was well known for her strength, her grace and her gentle spirit. She developed serious arthritis in the fall of 2001, but true to her nature she didn't let it get her down. She simply accepted the reality of her own decreased mobility, just as she accepted it when she got wet in a rainstorm, or was given the special food she loved, or had to turn in for the night after a day full of fun and adventure. She embraced all the highs and lows of life with grace and patience, and an ease of understanding few of us ever achieve.

Sadly, Isis left us on November 17, 2004. We found her that day, lying peacefully in one of her favorite grassy spots, still beautiful even in death. We cried for Isis when we laid her to rest. But we tried not to mourn for too long, rememberig her courage in the face of hardship.