All Species Kinship (A.S.K.) is south central Michigan's only large scale abandoned waterfowl Sanctuary! Ducks and geese get thrown out after Easter, or after Spring duckling sales, left to fend for themselves at city parks and along roadsides. Helpless, these birds are confused, and often injured or ailing when rescued.
Many communities in Michigan are faced with duck and goose abandonment issues. This is problematic for the following reasons: 1. domestic waterfowl become injured and/or sick when left in the wild 2. domestic waterfowl can impact wild waterfowl populations through breeding and over-crowding. This can result in hybrids and loss of native species. 3. domestic waterfowl are bred flightless and heavy-bodied and can actually get stuck in ice sheets
A.S.K.'s Sanctuary provides a solution to the problem of illegal domestic bird abandonment. Through operation of our Sanctuary we help communities by giving parks and private residents a safe option for abandoned birds, eliminating the risks to the birds and also alleviating people's worries. To do this, we need to provide predator-proof protection to our rescued residents and that includes exclusion of mink and weasel which require fencing to be trenched & also comprised of a small mesh size.
When people see domestic fowl living in the wild they automatically think that they too can dump their birds at the same park, or road-side mud hole. If we are able to properly house rescued fowl, we hope it will result in a drastic decline in their local abandonment as we work dually to educate the public through establishment of signage and presentations at problem locations. Domestics are 100% reliant on humans and they become someone else's problem when left ailing in the wild.
