A VOLUNTEER at a sanctuary which saves animals from being slaughtered has claimed it is being “bullied” by East Hampshire District Council.

Orchard Farm Animal Sanctuary in Bucks Horn Oak was started seven years by Anita Pye, and is owned by her mother.

Ms Pye has bipolar disorder and around seven years ago got 20 hens “as a way of making me get up and go out every day”.

“I wish I could say I was some animal saviour, but I’m not – by default they give back as much as we give them,” she said.

But Ms Pye claims that after a “malicious complaint” from a former volunteer to the district council, the farm has been subject to countless “unannounced visits” and investigations since May 2019.

It was also handed a prohibition notice under the Health and Safety at Work Act, despite, she says, there being neither an employer or any employees.

Ms Pye said: “There was a point when it started getting quite nasty – it was like we were public health enemy number one.”

The notice meant the farm was unable to host its usual open afternoon fundraising events in the summer.

“It made this winter extremely difficult as the costs go right up during these months’” said Ms Pye.

A council spokesman told the Herald that environmental health officers discovered the farm did not have the “basic facilities needed for visitors to wash their hands after handling the animals”.

They added: “While temporary washing and toilet facilities have since been provided, these are sufficient only for the small number of volunteers who work there. They are still not sufficient for the visiting public.”

The farm also received a number of letters from the council requesting business rates be paid. But Ms Pye said they were exempt as they have “agricultural animals on agricultural land”.

She continued: “The whole idea of this place is it’s a calm, good environment for people with mental health and anyone else to be in. But it has turned out to be a nightmare with the council – they’ve made it not that environment.”

After the Herald approached the district council for a comment, Ms Pye made aware by officers she was “eligible for small business rate relief”, according to a council spokesman.

They added: “With the help of our officers, Mrs Pye has applied for and received 100 per cent rate relief so owes nothing. She is also appealing against the Valuation Office’s assessment of her rateable value.”

*To sign a petition to MP Damian Hinds to support the sanctuary, go to tinyurl.com/wf38qqw