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Adoption fee Policy
The Peaceable Kin-dom
The Peaceable Kin-dom was founded on a belief is that all living beings, human and non-human, are interconnected and interdependent with each other, and with the Earth and all of Nature that sustains Life..
Humans have historically dominated other creatures and the rest of Nature, treating them as commodities to exploit for human use or monetary gain. This has resulted in many living creatures depending on money for their very existence, and many have suffered or died because people either didn’t have the money to pay the costs of maintaining their lives, or didn’t consider them valuable enough to spend money on.
We at the Kin-dom believe every living being is priceless, and has a right to its life, whether or not it has monetary value for human beings. We strongly believe money should not determine whether a sentient being lives or dies, or receives food, shelter or health care. We believe every animal deserves these things simply because it exists!
Therefore, we don’t believe living creatures should be bought or sold. In our view, humans, whose actions have led to animal overpopulation, abandonment, neglect, and sometimes abuse, are responsible for helping them recover, and for taking care of them, and the Earth. These are major aims of The Peaceable Kin-dom.
In the spirit of generosity and open-hearted stewardship, The Peaceable Kin-dom consists entirely of unpaid volunteers, who freely donate our time, talents and treasures to help animals in need, whether domestic, feral, or farm animals. We depend on voluntary donations for the money that our economic system requires to feed the animals and provide veterinary care.
So, wanting to “walk our talk,” we are choosing not to require an “Adoption fee” for people who adopt the animals we rescue. Instead, we invite our adoptive families to give donations* – entirely by their own choice – to help us continue our work and grow The Kin-dom. We tell people what we’ve spent to care for the animal they’re adopting, and then we leave it up to them to give what they choose, trusting that people will be as generous as their financial situations allow, to support our ongoing work.
This policy is based on the concept of a “gift economy,” a radically different way for humans to relate to each other, to animals, and to the rest of Nature. It’s how many indigenous peoples related to each other in the past, and we believe it’s what humanity needs to relearn and recover. It’s an experiment, based on trust, and faith in human beings’ innate generosity and good will. We hope we will succeed. It depends on every one of us!
In this spirit, we thank you for your gift of a forever home, to an animal we’ve come to love. And we welcome your participation and your gifts: of money, materials, time, skills... whenever and how-ever you choose to support us.
Mission Statement
The Peaceable Kin-dom
The Peaceable Kin-dom Educational and Charitable Trust is inspired by a vision of a world where human beings live, work, play and thrive in healthy, harmonious, sustainable, mutually enhancing relationships with each other, with all living beings, and with the natural world on which all life depends.
Mission
The overarching mission of the Peaceable Kin-dom Educational and Charitable Trust is to provide a refuge for animals (domestic and farm) and a healing place for people while promoting environmental stewardship. It advocates, creates and operates structures, projects, enterprises, events, and activities that connect human beings (HumAnimals), other Animals (domestic and farm animals, wildlife, birds, and aquatic animals), and the Earth (representing the rest of Nature), for mutual healing and increased wellbeing through compassionate, cooperative, sustainable, reciprocally empowering relationships and actions that promote the greatest good of all beings.
Core Values
The core values and worldview embraced and promoted by the Peaceable Kin-dom Educational and Charitable Trust include:
Belief that the Earth (“Gaia”) and all that exists upon it, animate and inanimate, form an interrelated, interconnected, interdependent web in which any action in any part of the system, including action by human beings, has an important and far-reaching effect on the whole.
Awareness that the Earth and all living beings are constantly evolving and changing, and that conscious evolution on the part of HumAnimals is necessary for the survival and wellbeing of ALL species on the planet.
Belief that mutual respect, cooperation, collaboration, effective communication, continual personal growth, and creative conflict resolution are essential skills for HumAnimals to cultivate, amongst ourselves and in relation to other living beings and the rest of Nature on which all life depends.
Agreement with Mahatma Gandhi’s statement that “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
Agreement with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s statement that: “Life is as dear to a mute creature, as it is to humanity. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures.”
Aims & Objectives
In service of this Vision and Mission and these Values, the specific, interconnected aims of the Kin-dom are as follows (please see our Trust Deed for complete, specific Objectives associate with each aim):
1. Animal Rescue & Sanctuary
2. Permaculture-inspired Land Use,
Agriculture and Horticulture
3. Education and Service Learning
4. Volunteer Support and Operation
5. Self-support and Fund-raising
6. Emphasis on Process: Co-creation,
Collaboration, Cooperation, Communication, Community
7. Holistic, Integrative, Sustainable Principles and Practices
8. Emphasis on Holistic Education & Healing, and Aesthetic Arts
9. Modeling Kin-dom Values Through Examples and Opportunities
10. Research, Advocacy and Policymaking furthering Kin-dom Values
11. Benefits to Local Golden Bay Community and Beyond
12. Networking for the Greater Good of the Earth and All Beings