March 2025

Hello dear readers.

I promised you in March's newsletter that I would tell you this time how much work animal welfare means.
A promise is a promise, and now I wish you lots of fun reading.

Our Motivation: With Heart for the Animals

When you've made the decision to stand up for poor, abandoned, abused, sometimes severely injured, or mistreated animals, you do it out of passion. Animal welfare is not a profession. Animal welfare is a dedication to help these poor souls, because this help is desperately needed in many places.
We at Animal Police are there for the animals every day with all our hearts. When the Swiss animal welfare association Animal Police was founded, Finca Noah came into being, and as time went on, more and more animals found refuge here. Of course, the daily work has grown too. Every morning, about 260 hungry little creatures look at us very impatiently. In the species-appropriate enclosures, which we've lovingly built and set up with lots of hard work for each animal species, we give them the opportunity to rediscover joy in life and regain their trust in humans. Our goal is for them to leave their mostly traumatic experiences and histories behind and approach people with joy again. So they stay healthy, it's not only important to provide them with veterinary care. Their environment also needs to be maintained, and that's where our daily work in animal welfare begins. Only a clean and well-maintained place gives animals the chance to feel comfortable. We rescue animals from terrible, neglected, and filthy conditions. They deserve nothing less than a cozy sanctuary now.

Our Daily Life at Finca Noah

The meticulous cleaning, the order, and the careful attention to every detail can really make you sweat, because it means a lot of work. When I say here that every stone has its place, I mean that 100 percent. This meticulous order and cleanliness doesn't come out of nowhere. Farah is a bit extreme about it.
Each animal species, each enclosure requires individual care. Care means that for dogs and cats, waste is removed, water and food bowls are cleaned daily, and of course refilled with fresh food. The same goes for the dog pools. They're available to every dog, and they love them. The sleeping areas, blankets, cushions, beds are cleaned and disinfected — we do all of this twice, morning and evening.
Our washing machines run almost continuously.
For our rabbits, guinea pigs, pigeons, Agapornis, budgies, and cockatiel, who all live peacefully together in Mallorca's largest aviary, we prepare fresh food (fruit and vegetables) daily. Each has their preferences, which we're happy to cater to. For this, we do our weekly shopping.
The farm animals like horses and donkeys make much bigger messes, so physical strength is especially required, because large animals make large amounts of manure. We don't have machines to make the work easier. With us, it's pure manual labor. The hay bales that we have to lift into the hay racks with muscle power on a regular basis are not only eaten with relish by the horses — they also have a great time scattering the straw all over the place, which for us means sweeping, sweeping, sweeping….
Swiss animal welfare association also means Swiss thoroughness.
Our chickens, peacocks, geese, and ducks enjoy the pool and several water basins, which after a good bath look more like mud baths to us. Of course, we scrub these every day so they look brand new every single day.
Our sheep, our Shetland pony Rambo, Coco the deer, and some chickens share a 3,000-square-meter area where we pick up the little sheep droppings. Because these are a thorn in the side of Animal Police founder Farah de Tomi. The way she meticulously sweeps up the little pellets, you'd think she has an allergy to them. Depending on the weather, it's truly a big challenge to catch every single little "pellet." In strong wind, they literally fly around your ears.
While we're setting everything right for the animals, we also take the time to spoil them with petting and affection. Many of the animals grew up with us and are therefore very trusting and seek closeness with humans. Each in their own way. Some sheep think they're dogs because they were bottle-fed in the middle of a pack of dogs. We have cats that obey commands. 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. Beyond the daily work, we also make time to show our visitors around the farm, show them everything, explain it, and educate them.
We walk the dogs every day. It sounds like the simplest thing in the world. But we don't just have trained and perfectly obedient dogs and animals here. Each one has their own personal story, experience, and trauma, which makes a walk with currently 16 dogs almost feel like an organizational masterpiece. Not every dog can run in a pack. That means we have to separate them from each other. Our goal is still for all of them to live together and respect each other, because here at Finca Noah we want peaceful coexistence.

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Round-the-Clock Commitment

When after about 5 hours all the animals are taken care of, they take their well-deserved siesta, and peace settles on the farm, it's time for us to work. Animal welfare for Farah de Tomi as well as for me is just a hobby, even though this hobby often means being on call 24 hours for the animals, 7 days a week, whether it's sunshine and 40 degrees in the shade or storms and rain.
Personally, I wake up quite early in the morning and enjoy seeing how the animals and Finca Noah slowly come to life every day. Only the roosters wake up earlier — I have the feeling they never sleep. The crowing accompanies you throughout the night. They're also the first animals to enjoy their breakfast at sunrise.
We receive more than 40 distress calls, calls, or messages in various forms every day. Of course, we help wherever we can and always act in the animal's best interest. If necessary, we drive across the island — we help island-wide.
Amidst all our tasks, we search for loving and perfect homes for our charges. Pre- and post-adoption checks are a MUST for us.
For an animal to travel to its forever home, a veterinary visit is mandatory. Vaccinations, microchip, passport, and neutering are extremely important for every single animal. We visit the vet regularly, and usually as an emergency. Not infrequently, the vet has to come out to Finca Noah. We often receive desperate calls from people who find an animal on the street and want to help it, but can't afford the vet costs. We make no distinction whether the animal is rescued by us or someone else. We're grateful for everyone who engages for these poor souls. Mallorca has thousands of street cats, and to prevent their numbers from growing, we regularly trap street cats to have them spayed or neutered. This prevents a lot of suffering.

Emotional Challenges & Gratitude

In animal welfare, you're confronted with a lot of suffering. Often the experiences we witness and the terrible images don't let go of us. We sleep restlessly and are still very affected the next morning. The beautiful thing in such difficult and emotional moments is being able to look into a satisfied and happy face and round eyes — that gives us the strength and confirmation that it's worth fighting for every single animal and giving them a better, a new, a second life.
This work is not for everyone. We've experienced that enough here at Finca Noah. It's demanding, it's emotional, but above all it's connected to so much gratitude that the animals bring us every day.
You're welcome to read the volunteer testimonials on our website. At our request, they held nothing back and wrote exactly how they experienced their time here with us and the animals.
We also have many little helpers behind the scenes. Association members who volunteer and take a lot of work off our hands and are a great support in many ways. Farah said recently that it gives her tremendous strength to know that Animal Police has become a strong team and she doesn't have the feeling of standing alone with the association she founded anymore. She's proud to have a team that strengthens her, supports her, and can always be relied upon. These are difficult times because of the legal case and the search for new homes for the animals. The so-called haters on social media also really get to you. It wears on your nerves so much that you really need people who give you strength again and again. A huge thank you to the entire team, you're the best.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

There are also wonderful people who support us and our animals in a completely different way. Dear Fabi came up with something really sweet for how she can help Animal Police and many animals. She used her talent and makes fluffy plush animals. She sells them and donates 10 percent of the proceeds to Animal Police, and she's been doing this for a year now.
On April 26, you have the opportunity to meet Fabi in person with her plush animals at the craft flea market, Kulturkunst village market Ipsach. Reducing animal suffering by purchasing a handmade plush animal — that's something you'll only find at Animal Police.

flaffys.ch

We would like to thank everyone at this point who actively supports us — only you make it possible for us to keep going and rescue so many animals. We also don't want to leave unmentioned our dear animal friends who support our animals with regular donations. Sustainable animal welfare is very close to our hearts.
THANK YOU!!!

Thanks for reading and your time. (The newsletter turned out a bit longer). But our days are at least just as long. Whoever invented the 24-hour day should be banned 😉