On the Seventeenth Day of Christmas, look what came to Rikki’s,
seventeen emus escaping,
I have to admit, I was surprised when I was first asked to take in emus. Emus? They were first introduced to the speculative meat market, buy a breeding pair for an outrageous price, breed them, and a few years later you can sell them like giant turkeys. That didn’t go over well, the average consumer didn’t want a 70 pound turkey, and they didn’t care for the taste of them either. Back to the drawing board, and someone decided emu oil, from fattening them up, killing them and processing out the oil, would be a cure all for everything from baldness to high cholesterol, they didn’t care what it was purported to cure, as long as they could sell all these emus somehow and make some money. But those crazes didn’t last long either. With there being no market for these emus, when they were escaped, which they are very good at, nobody would claim them or take them back. Almost all of our emus were picked up off the streets, or out of the woods, or in someone’s barn, as strays.
The rest …. you guessed it, the exotic pet market. You thought it’d be cute to have a little chick for easter? Try a new and improved giant emu !!! But again, they get big, they eat, they need medical care, and they …. escape.
We started getting phone calls like, “I had two emus but one escaped and this one is lonely, can you come get it?”, “We’re moving and can’t take out emu.”, “We can’t keep the emu in the back yard and…”, and so on.
They’re big birds, standing about 5 feet tall most of the time. Quite a bit taller when the stretch up to look down on you!
They love to eat broccoli. And people love to feed it to them when they visit.
They love to swim.
And they have BIG feet !!
Did I mention, they love to escape? Which way did that emu go?
Your tax deductible donation not only feeds them, but helps to buy fencing material for constant repairs and reinforcements !!
YOU can help keep an emu contained by going to our website and sending a few bucks!
https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org
THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!
#RikkisRefuge
#RikkisRefugeAnimalSanctuary
