AN animal sanctuary which rescued six calves from being slaughtered is now hoping to raise enough money so it can continue to care for them.

Greenland Grove Animal Sanctuary, in St Osyth, has provided a safe space for more than 30 horses, ponies, cows, and a variety of other species for 27 years.

Last summer the organisation, which was founded by Carol Jacobs, 55, rehomed six baby cows, which would have been sent to slaughterhouses and killed.

Initially the sanctuary only committed to helping two of them, but when a different sanctuary was unable to pick-up its share of the calves, Carol stepped in.

“We agreed to house them all overnight, because another rescue team couldn’t take them that night, so they would have gone to slaughter,” she said.

“They were in such a terrible condition, severely underweight and you could see their rib bones, so the vet advised they were too fragile to travel anywhere.

“After two months, they were well enough to go the other sanctuary, but by that point, we had all got really attached to them and we could see the bond the herd had.

“We just couldn’t bear the thought of them going anywhere.”

In the end, having already spent £2,000 on veterinary bills, Carol decided to keep all six of the calves at Greenland Grove.

Basil, Geilo, Tosh, Bodin, Timba and Jambo, are now extremely happy, and have said to have garnered a following of fans on social media who love seeing their progress.

But the volume of food they need to consume is, financially, starting to take its toll.

Every week, for example, the calves are being fed four sacks of cattle cubes, 14 bales of straw, and a large roll of haylage, which costs £117 every week.

In order to be able to continue offering the same level of care to the cute calves, the volunteer-run sanctuary is now asking people to consider contributing to the cost.

Carol said: “They have been a big drain on us since we got them, but they are, of course, worth every penny.

“We have been building them up and now they are beautiful, strong calves, but we have had to put a lot of good food into them, so they could survive.

“People love cows and there is a lot of interest in these ones, so we are calling on all cow lovers to help us.

“Every sanctuary is finding it hard, so, to us, every penny raised will be a massive help and it will help towards the other animals too, not just out lovely dairy boys.

“It would make a huge difference to us.”

To donate visit facebook.com/greenlandgroveanimalsanctuary.