Sanctuary Tails

Animal Video of the Week: Jasper & Friends

Last month, Farm Sanctuary came to the aid of six newborn calves who were found abandoned on a Pennsylvania farm and left to die. Thanks to Farm Sanctuary members who gave generously to the Emergency Rescue Fund and helped provide these babies with critical medical care and nourishment, the calves - Teddy, Amigo, Poncho, Felipe, Sasha, and the littlest baby, Jasper - are already blossoming into active, playful youngsters. Learn more about the calves' journey in this sweet new video. Enjoy! 

Mother Love

 

by Susie

It’s a common misperception that mother animals lose interest in their young after a certain age. Animals form close bonds with their kin just like we do, and experience anxiety when they’re separated from their loved ones. While some grow independent and blaze their own trails, many of our residents stay close to their moms into adulthood. Time and again, we’ve witnessed right here at the sanctuary just how strong maternal bonds can be.

When Farm Sanctuary responded to a case of extreme neglect in Butler County, PA in 2004, Celeste and her newborn daughter came to live at our New York Shelter. Each time her mother received healthcare, Juliet would worry and immediately dive underneath Celeste to nurse. Though she’s older now, Juliet hasn’t outgrown this urge, and still seeks comfort from her mother after any emotional event occurs. And Celeste looks after her daughter too. Once, when Juliet underwent basic healthcare, Celeste completely dismantled a gate just to get to her. Nothing can keep these two apart.

Bertha, another cow from the same rescue, gave birth shortly after arriving at the sanctuary. Sadly, she was unable to nurse the baby because she had a very painful case of mastitis. Due to Bertha’s condition, we had to bottle-feed her daughter Robin and separate the two to give the new mom a chance to undergo vital treatments. Once Bertha’s health improved, the two were reacquainted. The new mother, now free of pain, greeted Robin with love and, to our surprise, started to nurse her right away! From that day on, the two stuck together through thick and thin. In fact, when Bertha was diagnosed with cancer years later and transported to the Cornell University Hospital for Animals for treatment, she refused to eat and bellowed incessantly until she and Robin were reunited. During the rest of Bertha’s days, Robin kept her from giving up, and always stayed by her side.

In 2008, we welcomed another large group of mothers to the shelter when we rescued 14 sheep in late term pregnancy from Red Barn Farm in Canaan, NY, where dozens of animals had been locked in a dark, manure-packed barn and left to starve. When one of the sheep, Alex, was given her first health check, we discovered that she had no teeth. No one suspected that this elderly ewe was about to become a mom! When we discovered that Alex had lung abscesses, we were concerned that her growing baby wouldn't be able to get enough oxygen, and put her under special care at Cornell until her baby was born. Due to her age and physical condition, Alex could not produce milk. Though caregivers bottle-fed her daughter Dinah, the little lamb still went through the motions of nursing for comfort and formed a close bond with her mother nonetheless. To this day, they can still be seen lying together in the barn.

And large animals aren’t the only ones who love their babies. In 2007, we gave refuge to a family of wild jungle fowl rescued from a cock fighting ring in New York City. Whoever coined the phrase “mother hen” must have had June, the mama chicken, in mind. When they were little, June’s chicks would ride on her back, and when anyone approached, they'd run for cover, with only their heads poking out from beneath her feathers. All grown up now, Flutter, one of June's kids, is the spitting image of her mom. Though she and her sister Velvet are laying eggs of their own, the whole family still piles into one nest box at night, with June roosting on top. One of June’s sons also still lets his mom clean him, and is never far from her side.

These loving families are lucky; separated early on, most farm animals never get to experience a life-long bond with their mothers. This Mother’s Day, honor mothers like June, Alex, Bertha, and Celeste by sponsoring a farm animal in need.

Top photo: Bertha and Robin

Animal Photo of the Week: Mother and Child

Abandoned for weeks without food or water, six goats languished in neglect. When Farm Sanctuary came to their rescue, they were emaciated, stricken with pneumonia, infested with parasites, and had badly rotten hooves. And shockingly, five of them were in the late stages of pregnancy.

Due the extreme neglect the goats endured, the pregnancies are extremely high-risk, so sanctuary staff have been providing around-the-clock care, keeping constant watch over the goats in their vulnerable state. Just recently, one of the goats, only a baby herself, gave birth to a beautiful little girl. Here, a sweet moment is shared between the new mother and her fragile baby, and it’s plain to see that their bond already runs deep.

Learn more about the rescue and how you can help the new mom and moms-to-be.  

 

Jump for Joy! It’s Springtime at the Sanctuary

 

By Susie

Spring is in the air, and everyone at our New York Shelter knows it. With the change of the seasons come many changes around the farm. As they begin to spend most of their hours outdoors, all of the animals spring to life. There is a distinct bounce in every animal’s step, and they eagerly spill out of the barns each morning to greet the day.

The emergence of chickens, goats and pigs is especially notable, as they burst out of the barns where they bunkered down for the long winter. During those cold months, many of them hate going out – even when we are cleaning their barns. But in the springtime, all that changes.

Spring is the goats’ favorite time of year. As soon as the first flurries of winter appear, they become quieter and less active. But the second spring hits, they change their tune. The goats love to spend their days sunbathing, and when they aren’t leisurely soaking in rays, they can be found playing lively head-butting games and running full speed around their pastures.

There’s even more excitement in store for the goats and our other residents as the weather warms: once the grass has grown in, we will start moving them onto bigger pastures. Weather permitting, all 200 ruminants at the sanctuary can eat fresh grass all day long from May through September, which they love.

Our residents aren’t the only ones spending more time outdoors. The whole farm is buzzing with activity as our shelter staff engages in a little spring cleaning. The maintenance crew works hard to repair gutters and roofing damaged by winter storms, fences affected by snow and fallen branches, and doors and gates which require adjusting due to frost heave. Some barns need repainting after taking a beating from ice storms, and areas torn up by tractors need fixing as frozen earth turns to mud. There is always so much to do!

As caregivers, our day gets longer when the animals’ day gets longer. They are all let out when the sun comes up and led back to the safety of their barns at dusk. This makes for a very long day – and requires more hands – as daylight hours grow longer into the summer. Nevertheless, we’re happy to accommodate so that the animals have access to the sunshine as long as possible, which is one of the pleasures they live for!

Top photo: Ami goat, soaking up some rays!

Animal Photo of the Week: Blossom

 

Meet the newest addition to our California Shelter! Not too long ago, Blossom was found grazing all alone in the yard of a Red Bluff, California home. Her rescuers had their work cut out for them when they discovered her, as this 20-pound pink piglet wasn’t about to give up her newfound independence that easily. Little did she know, her days of freedom had only just begun!

These days, Blossom runs  gleefully about her spacious new home, ears thrown back. Free of all cares, she spends her days rooting about in the dirt and soaking up the warm sun. But having lost her mom at such a young age, this baby pig still needs a lot of love and attention. Sponsor Blossom today and let this special pink piglet find her way into your heart.

Animal Photo of the Week: Lucky Lady

 

It’s nearly that time of year again! As the weather warms up, Lucky Lady – a brave sheep who escaped from a live animal auction in the South Bronx and sent police on a wild chase in 2007 – will be happy to shed the thick, wooly coat that has kept her snug all winter. At our New York Shelter, several pounds of her curly coat are sheared off once a year, preventing heatstroke and adding a little spring to her step. That means she’ll have an even easier time frolicking and bounding about the fields and pastures all summer with her flock, right where she belongs. Now that’s one lucky lady!

Grazing Beauties

by Leanne 

If you’ve ever visited our California Shelter more than once in a season, you may have found animals in different fields each time. Throughout the year, our large animal herds rotate between the many pastures of our 300 acres. This not only provides the animals with new scenery and places to play, but it also has economic benefits! During the rainy season, the herds are moved to a new pasture once they have grazed down all of the grass. The cattle are often let into the farthest pastures in the rolling hills and have plenty of grass to eat until the summer, while our sheep and goats are kept closer by and may need to rely on hay until more rain comes.

For several weeks each winter, we close the gates leading to the road that passes in front of the sanctuary and release the herd of feral sheep we rescued from Santa Cruz Island into the barnyards to graze. Signs are placed on the gates for any visitors who may not be aware of the old farm adage, “leave it as you found it.” Despite their wild nature, the sheep are right at home at the shelter and will look up from their meals only briefly as we hustle about after our hundreds of other shelter residents. Extra precaution is taken when driving the tractors around since sheep expect us to wait for them to finish crossing the road and we are more than happy to oblige.

The three donkeys, with whom the sheep often share a pasture, used to share the privilege of grazing in the barnyards — until they became too mischievous and opened up a silo filled with food! Now the sheep have sole reign over the barnyards. They always have access to their barn in case it starts to drizzle, and water troughs are set up in various locations in case they get thirsty. All of the essentials provided for, they apply themselves to the task of finding every last blade of grass to eat and they sure do a great job of it!

Of course, there are many grassy areas on the shelter that the herds cannot readily access; some are for the small animals, and others are not fenced. Those of you who have visited before may be thinking of the open space that surrounds our barns and office as one of these inaccessible areas, but you would be wrong! We built fencing around all of the fruit trees that were planted last year as apple leaves and bark are very tasty, but the sheep do find a way to prune down the rose bushes in front of the office every time. You know you have the best job ever when you look up from your desk and see an entire herd of happy sheep grazing away outside your window.
 

Animal Photo of the Week: Johnny

As piglets, Johnny and five others were used as living “teaching tools” at a university veterinary hospital, where students performed unnecessary surgeries on the tiny animals. Cast aside once they had outlived their use, they were scheduled to be sold at auction until a compassionate student spoke up on their behalf. Never again to be exploited at the hands of humans, Johnny is all grown up and in hog heaven at our California Shelter. He is very affectionate with the other pigs, always stopping to rub his head against them as he passes. His laid back personality, despite the adversity he faced in his youth, inspires us to view life through a new lens. As March winds blow, Johnny stays cozy by burrowing contentedly into a bed of straw, no doubt dreaming of warmer weather and the mud that spring showers bring.