Raise the Coop

Help The Cooks Garden Venice raise money to rebuild and relocate our small animal sanctuary at Westminster Elementary School, adjacent to their school garden.

Our coop is home to over thirty birds, including 6 ducks and our bunny bungalow that houses 5 bunnies - all are rescued or adopted from our community. Each day the flock brings joy to guests as they discover a flock of birds in an urban farm nestled in the busy shopping district of Abbot Kinney. We love witnessing the joy on people's faces as they hear a cluck of a chicken or a rooster's crow and turn their heads to discover our birds and bunnies.

The animals all live happily in our urban garden that has been home to rescued birds for over a dozen years. We take on rescues and adoptions when we can - from flock owners who can no longer support their flock and neighborhood rescues brought in by mindful neighbors. We also serve as an evacuation and foster resource for communities under fire evacuation orders during wildfires.

Once adopted or rescued, this is our animals’ forever home meaning they live their entire natural life with us. At the moment, only about a third of our flock is laying eggs; the rest are living happily in our urban oasis.

The sanctuary needs to build new home in anticipation of the ground-breaking of the planned hotel project in the summer of 2026. This is an expense that we simply cannot afford without our community’s support as the garden is still struggling to recover from the loss of restaurant business that the pandemic brought.

These upgrades are a significant undertaking for us and we appreciate any support you can offer. We know that the animals bring such joy to the community and we hope to keep the flock here in Venice and remain a resource for rescues and adoptions for animals in need for years to come.