Ōtautahi Animal Refuge (OAR) – non-profit organisation NZ

Ōtautahi Animal Refuge (OAR) – non-profit organisation was established in Christchurch NZ in 2019; we aim to provide a sustainable service devoted to creating real lasting change for the lives of domestic animals in the Christchurch and surrounding areas.

Our Outreach Programme plays a vital role in our mission; with education through a direct hands-on approach, we can reduce the breeding, abuse and neglect of domestic animals.

If you are considering surrendering an animal, would like to adopt through us, or have some questions regarding your existing pet, you can arrange a free appointment with a friendly professional volunteer.

This is a free service to work with you directly, helping you achieve the best outcome possible for both you and your pet. If you would like to take advantage of this, we also offer nail trimmings and limited first aid care within this service.

We are a completely volunteer run organisation, and through our volunteers we are able to have a personal rehabilitation programme with each animal in our care.

We do not offer our animals up for adoption before they are ready; for some this is fairly quickly, others can take many months to recover and show happy healthy behaviour.

All our rabbits available for adoption have not only finished their rehabilitation, but also de-sexed, microchipped, vaccinated and litter tray trained. They are indoor pets only.

Though OAR is primarily focused on the rehabilitation of neglected rabbits and ex battery hens, we

work with a variety of domestic animals including ducks and guinea pigs, but at this stage we are not able to take cats or dogs, please contact another rescue for this option.

Though there maybe thousands of lives we cannot save, by changing how we as a society feel about our domestic pets, we can create a ripple effective changing the lives for countless individuals;

because for even one, it can mean everything.