provide a safe and loving haven for abused and abandoned horses and farm animals—animals who have never known warm shelter, spacious pastures, good food, or the touch of a kind hand. Since 2001, CAS has provided refuge for close to 400 such animals, including horses, ponies, cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, pigs, rabbits, and a variety of birds.We were there on Friday, which turned out to be a mistake...they're actually open only on Saturday and Sunday. I know from out experience at Opus 40 that it can be maddening to have people show up on the wrong day, just to look around, but the people at the farm could not have been nicer...all of them. They welcomed us, let us look around, even let Arick feed tomatoes to the pigs, including their newest one, Ozzie, a 4 month old Vietnamese potbellied pig.
Now, people who love animals -- especially animals that have been abuse by people -- don't always love people, and there's no reason why they should, necessarily. But the complete and genuine warmth of everyone there, and their graciousness to two people who showed up when they weren't supposed to be there, won our gratitude. Now, I don't recommend testing their patience by showing up on an off day. I know what that's like for us at Opus 40. But I do recommend going, and seeing the wonderful work they've done, and are doing, with abused animals.
We'll be going back (on a weekend), and we'll be supporting them with a membership. I think Arick is going to want to go back every weekend. I wonder if they can use a 5-year-old volunteer?
1 comment:
Hey, Tad! I'm on the board of Catskill Animal Sanctuary, and I am thrilled to read what you wrote. It is SUCH a special place, and because all of their money goes straight to the animals (and believe me, we need every penny of it and then some), CAS has virtually no advertising budget. That means it relies on visitors, members, and media to get the word out so that people can learn about and come see what we do. Keep in mind that we're closed to the public during the winter, so this upcoming weekend is the final one! Should be fun, though--Saturday's a Halloween-themed event...for more info on that, see www.casanctuary.org...Anyway, all best!
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