For the team behind ‘Til The Cows Come Home, the goal is simple but profound: to reframe how we think about farm animals. Not as commodities, but as companions.
“We started with the mindset that all animals deserve a loving home,” says Rachele Clarke, CEO of the national not-for-profit. “Not just cats and dogs. Chickens, cows, pigs, goats, they all feel. They all deserve care.”
Founded a little over six years ago, ‘Til The Cows Come Home rescues unwanted, unviable, and often forgotten farm animals, placing them in short-term foster care before rehoming them permanently with families across Australia. Unlike many rescue organisations, they don’t operate from a central sanctuary. Instead, they’ve built a volunteer-powered network of foster homes. It’s a distributed model that allows them to act quickly and reach more animals.
Since its inception, the group has rehomed more than 10,000 animals.
“Each one of those is a life saved,” Clarke says. “But also a life shared, because every rehoming story connects an animal with a human who’s ready to love them.”
Animals come into their care through two main pathways: rescue and surrender. Some are saved from the meat and dairy industries — hens culled at 18 months old, unwanted bobby calves considered waste products by the dairy system — while others are surrendered by families who can no longer care for them due to drought, financial hardship or changing life circumstances.
One story that’s stayed with Clarke is Pippa’s, a lamb who came to them undernourished and unvaccinated. She developed tetanus, a diagnosis that’s often fatal for farm animals.
“We were told she’d never walk again,” says Clarke. “But our foster carers, Ben and Sal, refused to give up. They gave her around-the-clock care, built her a custom walker, did daily physio. And Pippa pulled through.”
Ben and Sal eventually adopted Pippa and she now lives on their property, bounding around paddocks like any beloved family pet.
“Her recovery was nothing short of extraordinary,” Clarke says. “But what it really showed us was how much of a difference love and support can make.”
It’s stories like these that continue to drive the team’s mission and challenge the way society views farmed animals. One of the most misunderstood, Clarke says, is the dairy cow.
“People think milk is harmless,” she explains. “But cows don’t produce milk unless they’ve had a calf. To keep that cycle going, they’re repeatedly impregnated and the calves are usually taken away within days. Many of those babies are killed before they’re even a week old. It’s heartbreaking.”
Through their work, Clarke hopes to offer a better alternative. Before animals reach slaughterhouses, ‘Til The Cows intervenes to rehome them as cherished companions instead.
Looking ahead, Clarke says their goals are clear: expand their foster network, amplify their education efforts, and inspire more compassionate choices across Australia. They’re growing their social platforms, building new partnerships, and bringing more volunteers into the fold.
“We’ve learned that change doesn’t happen overnight,” Clarke says. “But if you lead with compassion and give people a way to help, they show up.”
Visit ‘Til The Cows Come Home to learn more, donate, or become a foster carer.
