Hell Yeah It's Vegan!

Hey, y’all! It’s been a while. I wrapped up my internship at Farm Sanctuary a couple of weeks ago and have been stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of packing and unpacking ever since.

It feels inadequate to say that I really miss the sanctuary and all of the human and non-human animals on it. I’m bummed about not being woken up by roosters at dawn, not hearing the joyful honks of safe, happy ducks and geese on my walk home, and not being able to visit with baby goats each evening. So when, amidst the chaos of relocation, I realized I had a chance to visit a farm animal sanctuary close-by, I hoped the occasion might put the tiniest band-aid on my aching heart. I emerged from cardboard boxes and packing tape last Saturday and made my way through the wind and rain to Catskill Animal Sanctuary, just a stone’s throw away in Saugerties, New York.

Though it was CAS’s 9th annual Shindig, my companion and I had never been to the sanctuary before, and were pretty confused when we arrived; dozens of people were just roaming freely around the shelter without any apparent direction. And just as I do whenever I’m in a new city, I kept seeing faces that reminded me of old friends, making me wish I were a few hours north instead. But once we got our bearings, we found our way onto a tour of the big barn, where we heard the stories of about a dozen farm animals, each of whom had overcome neglect, abuse or abandonment.

A very sweet white turkey named Rosa accompanied us on our tour, waddling along with the group as we visited each stall, and crying out for attention whenever she felt someone else was stealing her spotlight. Before we left, I was able to capture this picturesque scene captured of a sheep named Rambo who was cozied up with his hen friend, Barbie. Lord only knows how Barbie got her name, but Rambo — not to be confused with Philly’s legendary R.A.M.B.O. — was named due to his tendency to charge people. He had good reason to be angry; before he arrived at CAS, Rambo had been confined to a stall and neglected, his only nutrients coming from the occasional moldy bagel.

But those of us on Saturday’s tour would never have guessed of his harrowing past — being locked up in a stall still causes Rambo extreme anxiety, so these two were nestled on a pile of hay in an open area in the middle of the barn, posing sleepily for photos. In addition to two adoring hen friends, Rambo also has a girlfriend … and I think it’s safe to say that he has a gaggle of human admirers, too. Our guide related several stories of Rambo’s acts as a leader and protector, from shielding our guide from an aggressive rooster and alerting caregivers when other animals were in danger to cheering up a depressed pig.

Y’all know goats are browsing animals, right? That’s why they love eating leaves off trees and bushes, unlike sheep who prefer grazing on grass.

I’ll definitely be doing a longer post about my experiences at Farm Sanctuary soon, so keep your eyes peeled! And don’t worry, more recipes are on the way, too!

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 9:41 am and is filed under Inspiration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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