A PETTING farm which stocked up on animals ancitipating a busy summer has been left floored by the coronavirus crisis.

Animal Quackers in Bacup, run by Terry Bork and his partner Ginnie Back, closed in March as the UK went into lockdown and now they cannot afford to feed the animals.

The farm has around 120 animals including, sheep, alpacas, llamas, snakes, birds, pigs and meerkats.

Mr Bork and his partner bought more animals in February to get ready for their March opening but are now left with very little money to care for them as the business is no longer paying for itself.

Mr Bork said: “We bought the maximum animals and come March we shut down due to the virus.

“We used all the money we had to buy the animals and now to feed them and make sure they survive.

“We are stuck and many of our animals like our sheep are giving birth.

“There is no way to send the animals anywhere, we cannot downsize because we cannot take them to the auction so there is no way out of it.”

The farm are still feeding the animals at the moment and pay £200 a week for animal feed.

They have applied for universal credit and government grants but are still waiting back for responses.

Mr Bork said: “Unless I kill the animals there is no we can continue to feed them, and I will never do that.

“We can go another two or three weeks until we run out of money completely and without the customers we don’t have any business.”

One of the sheep called Betty gave birth to lamb, who was born on the day the lockdown was announced.

Mr Bork said: “Someone donated £150 which covered a whole week of feed, so I am grateful for that.

“The animals have a right to live too during this time.”

To still give children a slice of the animal action, the farmer is running vlogs on their Facebook page, focusing on a different animal each day.

For the winter months the farm retains some animals, before buying more in time for spring and summer.

When winter rolls back around the farmer sells the animals that he cannot look after, and the rest are kept.

To donate to the farm, visit the Facebook page 'Animal Quackers'.