Robin was found in a tied-up trash bag with his throat slit. Activists were documenting the aftermath of the kaporos on the morning after the final night of rituals, and they discovered one of the bags moving. They opened the bag and found Robin still alive and covered in blood among several dead birds. Robin went through the entire “sin- transferring” ritual including being swung over the participants head, then having his throat slit and being left for dead in the trash. The butcher (known as a shucat) missed his main artery, which is one of the many miracles of his story. Just minutes after they pulled him out of the trash, the garbage trucks arrived to take the bags filled with dead birds.

He was assisted by a triage team of activists and when Vanessa Dawson from Penelope’s Place showed up, she brought him to the emergency vet.

Robin was placed on oxygen, given heavy pain meds, fluids and antibiotics. He went into surgery the next day but he was given a 20% survival rate that he would live through the very risky surgery to repair his throat. When the vet called Vanessa for an update after the surgery the first words out of her mouth were “You have a miracle bird”. He recovered beautifully and now thrives at Penelope’s Place. He suffered some mental trauma from having lived through the ritual and being in the garbage bag among all of those other dead chickens. Any time that the lights went out it was as if he was back inside the bag. But he quickly learned that he was safe and loved at Penelope’s Place and the trauma symptoms subsided significantly. He turns 3 years old this month and is doing beautifully!

Unparalleled Suffering creates a documentary to report on the cruel Jewish tradition (more about that at the bottom of this page) and the unbelievable rescue of Robin.

Watch it here:

Kaporos - An Antiquated Custom

Kaporos is an antiquated custom that is sometimes referred to as Kapparot, both of which can mean “atonement,” or “scapegoat” or “sacrifice.” This is a “sin-transferring” custom in which a live animal (usually a mass-produced domesticated chicken) or money can be used. This tradition is done by some Haredi (ultra-orthdox) and Hasidic Jewish practitioners in the days and evenings leading up to the holiday of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. Neither the Torah nor the Talmud - the two most holy Jewish texts - mandate or even mention Kaporos. It isn’t part of Jewish law to practice this. Certain Jewish scholars first discussed Kaporos in the ninth century. These scholars claimed that since the Hebrew word ‘gever” meant both “man” and “rooster,” punishment for the bird could be substituted for punishment of the human. Since this time, many Jewish scholars and rabbis have opposed this torturous, murderous and superstitious sin-cancellation practice. The ritual is most commonly practiced in Israel, but it also takes place in many other areas of the world - the epicenter being Brooklyn, New York and the second most popular location in the United States being Los Angeles. In Brooklyn alone, between 100,000 to 200,000 chickens are killed annually for this superstition.

For more information check this link.

Penelope's Place the Sanctuary is a non-profit Rescue and Sanctuary located in Akron, NY. Co-founders Vanessa Dawson and Steven Dawson began Penelope's Place in Brooklyn, NY and moved to the buffalo area to expand the sanctuary. The sanctuary was inspired by their first rescue Penelope the chicken. This sanctuary is her legacy. Penelope's Place is a vegan sanctuary and operates fully under those values. The animals will never be used for their eggs or meat and we also serve as a place of education about living a compassionate life towards all beings.