04/06/2026
Good morning everyone,
Following our news of closing permanently which we announced yesterday.
I’d just like to explain why I’ve made the difficult decision to close and stop visits.
Since moving here, we have unfortunately had someone repeatedly reporting us. First, we had a visit from Trading Standards regarding concerns that we didn’t have the correct CPH/flock/herd numbers for our animals. Thankfully, everything was fully in place and the officer was happy that we met all required criteria.
We then received a letter that appeared to be from the council, stating we couldn’t run our business from here. However, after the council visited and reviewed the letter, they confirmed it had not come from them and was actually submitted by a member of the public. This was taken away for investigation. We were also advised that due to the minimal change in agricultural use of the land, what we were doing was no different to what many farmers do when keeping or moving animals, so we continued.
Yesterday, we received an email from Dorset Council following an anonymous report claiming I was employing children aged 13–16. This refers to my daughter, Farrah, who is nearly 14 and is homeschooled. Previously in Wiltshire, she helped for two years without issue.
Sadly, we have now been advised that this can no longer happen during school hours. As many of you know, Farrah has loved being involved. She hasn’t been working for pay — she simply helped for a maximum of two hours a week, gaining valuable experience, confidence, communication skills, social interaction, compassion for older generations, and learning about animals and how a business operates.
Someone took it upon themselves to screenshot and share photos of Farrah helping alongside me and send them to the council. I genuinely believed this was a positive thing for her and a great learning experience.
However, after speaking to the relevant people yesterday, I’ve been told I can no longer run visits during school hours. Unfortunately, this means I’m currently unable to continue visits at all.
What upsets me the most is that this has never been about running a business or making money. In fact, we don’t see ourselves as a business at all — we are simply people who genuinely care about supporting our community and offering something we feel deeply passionate about.
This has always come from the heart. We love what we do, and seeing the joy, comfort and connection our animals bring to people has meant everything to us. Any money from visits has only ever gone straight back into the care, feed and wellbeing of our animals — never as an income.
We’ve always tried to do something positive, supportive and meaningful for others, which is why this situation feels particularly upsetting.
So infact this person has now won, so I hope you are happy with the outcome and taken away something that meant so much to the community far and wide. I feel I now need time to regain some sort of strength from this, im sure this wont be the end and this person will indeed try to continue to bring misery to our lives.
But Would just like to thank each and every one of you who has supported us, visited us, shared kind words, and believed in what we do. Your kindness, encouragement and support has meant more than you will ever know.
To everyone who has visited and spent time with our animals, thank you for being part of something that means so much to us over our 2 years . Seeing the happiness, smiles and connections made has made my life so incredibly worthwhile.
We truly hope people understand why this decision has been made, and we are incredibly grateful for all the love and support we’ve received along the way 🩷
We will continue to love and care for all our lovely animals here in our care They we're all here regardless of what we do, A home for life was what they were all promised and A home for life is exactly what they all have ❤️
