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You can foster an animal by clicking the "Foster Me" button next to each animal's name. You will receive personal updates from your chosen animal itself.
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We are delighted that Mac the Mossburn Rabbit now has his own book.
The story follows our very own Mac on a voyage of discovery with the help of Fern the Deer and the Rabbit Rescue Squad, amongst others.
Cattle
Here at Mossburn we rescue and shelter misused, abused, unwanted and neglected cattle. You can help us to do this by paying to foster a cow. Just click on the 'Foster Me Please' button for the animal that you would like to foster.
Pigs | Exotics | Horses & Ponies | Ferrets | Rabbits & Guinea Pigs | Goats | Small Furries | Cattle | Wildlife | Sheep | Poultry |
Blue
Levi
Levi and Blue
Levi and Blue are two of eight baby calves rescued by Mossburn in July 2006 along with 27 other assorted animals who were not only being starved and neglected by their owner but also sexually abused by him. Of the eight calves three had to be humanely destroyed immediately as they were beyond help but we successfully raised five. Two have gone to another sanctuary, one has gone on loan and we are left with these two young bullocks, known always as “the babies”. We will no doubt still be calling them that when they reach their teens!!
Levi is the older of the two; he was born on the 18th of May 2006 while Blue’s birthday is the 1st of June 2006. Levi is a Holstein Friesian, Blue a Belgian Blue cross hence his name, the number in Levi’s ear is 501 hence his name!
When the calves arrived here they were totally traumatised, feeding them was difficult at first but they soon got the hang of it but other than sucking on their bottles they were listless and disinterested avoiding human contact if at all possible and flinching when touched, of them all Levi was the worst and at times we thought we would never gain any recognition or trust from him. One of the ways we employed to familiarise ourselves with these poor abused creatures was to sit in their loose box with them reading aloud, the poems of Tennyson seemed to be the most acceptable! The day Levi finally stretched his neck in response to being scratched brought tears to our eyes.
Blue is an outgoing character, he has to be in on anything that is going on and is a very affectionate animal, he loves to lick people especially around the face and hair, it is like being stroked with a piece of sandpaper! He can be a bit headstrong if there is food around but he knows the word “no” and will usually respond to it by backing off. For all his forwardness and apparent toughness if he feels threatened he will immediately run to Levi and hide behind him! Levi has a far more nervous disposition and, despite his enormous size, is a lot more gentle in his affection, happy to just stand and be stroked particularly under his neck which was the spot that eventually sparked his acceptance of humans. Blue is happy to have people sit on his back but there is no way Levi will tolerate a rider.
Joker
Joker has lived here at Mossburn since 1992, being not quite a year old when she arrived. Joker is a "miracle birth" heifer, she was born five months after her mother had already given birth to a calf. This is not supposed to happen and it occurs only very occasionally but Joker is the living proof that sometimes the laws of nature can be changed. When she was born Joker was extremely small and weak and she had hypothermia, the farmer’s mother took her into her house and hand reared her.
It was thought that Joker would never grow big enough to take her place in the commercial herd and as the farmer’s mum did not want her to go to market she asked her vet if he could advise her what to do, "ring Mossburn" was the answer and so this cute cuddly little Galloway Simmental cross heifer arrived on our doorstep. She is still cute and cuddly but she is certainly not little any more - she’s enormous! Fortunately Joker is very gentle and adores having a fuss made of her. Some cows, you see, do make rather adorable pets!
Victoria
Victoria, who was born in July 1995, is a very large Friesian cow who came to live with us on the 10th January 2002 as a direct result of the foot and mouth crisis. Victoria's human Mum runs a boarding kennels, when the foot and mouth outbreak was confirmed she asked her neighbouring farmer if he would take care of Victoria for her as she could not afford for the kennels to be closed down due to the presence of a cloven hoofed animal on the premises. The farmer kindly took Victoria in and tried, as had her Mum, to get her in calf, Victoria however appears to be barren as all attempts to get her pregnant failed.
When the crisis was over the farmer wanted to return Victoria to her Mum as she was no use as a commercial cow. Mum, like many of us, is uneasy about the recurrence of foot and mouth and again with her business in mind was reluctant to take Victoria back so she rang and asked if we would take her and as we had four bovine beasts anyway one more was not going to make much difference. Victoria is a mild mannered and friendly cow who has settled in well along with all the other animals.