A Canterbury animal rescue group has spent its long weekend in Dunedin saving animals in the South.
On Friday, four members of the North Canterbury Chicken Rescue hit the road with the mission to remove more than 100 chickens and eggs from where they had been abandoned around Dunedin.
Organiser and volunteer Amanda Gill said most of the birds were dumped on private property, but a few were left on public land.
Friday night was part one of the mission — the chook chasers tracked down six hens who had been sitting on 60 chicks and eggs.
"When we were rescuing over at Pineapple Point, we had a bit of an audience cheering us on, because we looked a bit silly," Ms Gill said.
Over the next two days the team was kept busy. — They collected three semi-wild kittens from the main dump-site and a series of other chickens.
In the end, the group moved kittens, chickens, roosters and chicks back north; they also picked up surrendered animals and some Hyline hens in Waimate.
"We came home with 11 chicks jammed down our tops to keep them warm until we could recharge the hot plate," Ms Gill said.
All the birds got a doctor’s visit before exiting Dunedin and some will be available for adoption if they pass further checks.
