Field Trip to the Farm Sanctuary

I had such a fabulous time visiting the Farm Sanctuary in Acton, California! It’s located about an hour from where I live in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County. The Farm Sanctuary was founded in 1986 by Gene Baur (look for my interview with him in May!). The story goes that he was visiting a stockyard and came across a dead pile of sheep, but found one that was alive. There were no animal sanctuaries in those days to take rescue farm animals to. So, it started Gene thinking about how he could start his own up. And that sheep—Hilda—lived for 10 years! New York was the home base for the Farm Sanctuary, but it later expanded to three locations in the U.S.

The Farm Sanctuary got a lot of attention from films, such as Forks Over Knives. It brought awareness to the plight of farm animals, and the conditions in modern animal agriculture today. The Farm Sanctuary is 100% nonprofit, necessary funds are raised through fund-raising efforts.

The Farm Sanctuary in LA has tours and its open to the public on Sundays. It’s a great opportunity for children to learn about how farm animals are raised. It’s also a wonderful way for people to realize that farm animals—just like our dogs and cats—have feelings and deserve to be treated humanely.

They have a big collection of beautiful chickens at the sanctuary. One of the programs at the Farm Sanctuary is an adoption program, which unites people with farm animals.

Most of the animals that come into the Farm Sanctuary arrive through rescue programs. These guys were lucky, as they were saved from slaughter and get to live happy lives on the sanctuary.

I loved hearing about the stories of each farm animal living at the sanctuary, such as Pinto, who was set to become veal when he was rescued. Now he’s lived a long, healthy life and is one of the sanctuary’s lucky favorites!

It’s so cool that Gene has gotten such a great reception for his efforts. He was even a guest on the John Stewart Show recently. If you’d like to learn more about what you can do to help farm animals, make sure you check out the Farm Sanctuary website. There are lots of ways you can get involved, such as signing up to become a member, volunteering, and supporting the organization with your donations.

Images: All photos shot on location at the Farm Sanctuary, Los Angeles, California by Sharon Palmer, RDN