Farm Sanctuary Trip
May 12, 2008 by mmg
I am back from a wonderful weekend at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY. What an adventure we had. I finally got to meet the goat I sponsored, Goodwin. This is him:
He is just the cutest little goat I’ve ever seen. Apparently his growth was stunted due to malnutrition or something, so he is only about half the size of the other pygmy goats. Since he is still pretty new there, he is terribly shy, and not sure what he thinks of humans yet. You can’t really blame him since he probably had never been treated kindly before now. In addition, he’s still trying to figure out where he fits in the pygmy goat herd. Despite his shyness, you could tell he has a lot of personality. He is cautious and wants to check things out, but to me it just seemed like you could tell he had a gentle, kind little personality. I think he’s feisty too underneath it all. I will be interested to see how he develops over time - yes, I’ll definitely go back there someday!
Here are some more of my pictures. If you haven’t been to a farmed animal sanctuary, I cannot recommend it enough. It was such a beautiful experience to connect with animals who have escaped slaughter, abuse, and neglect, and now are happy, sweet creatures who have learned to forgive humans, despite what they’ve been through. And for selfish reasons, it was just plain fun to give a pig a belly rub!
Goodwin is adorable! I remember reading about him in a Farm Sanctuary e-newsletter. Everybody else is pretty cute, too.
Did you stay at the Farm’s B&B? If you did, can you tell me what to expect?
Great pictures and thanks for sharing. I can’t wait for my weekend there.
s.
nothoney - You will have such a fabulous time! I looked for Warren the rabbit, but we weren’t allowed to go in their enclosure because I guess they get pretty spooked. I wonder if they’ll let you in since you’re his sponsor? Anyway, we stayed in town because the farm cabins were booked. I really enjoyed the hotel we stayed at (Chalet Leon), but staying at the farm would have been really nice too. Be sure to go in to Watkins Glen and check out the restaurants. For a small town they have a lot of vegan food options - you’ll love it! It’s very quaint and cute and best of all, vegan friendly! I hope you post some pictures after your trip too!
Oh fer cute. I love the hair on the top of that cow’s head!
That pig (third pic from the bottom) is smiling his ass off! It’s pretty cute.
Wonder what he’s dreaming about? Mud? Probably.
Al - I know, they have adorable hair-dos! And you wouldn’t believe how long their eyelashes are. The brown & white girl is named Rose (she didn’t like us much) and the black & white one is Maya (she’s super friendly and about 20 years old!).
Apollocreed - Probably mud, yes. These pigs are just so fat & happy, it was a lot of fun to see.
[...] I love how curious and sweet they are, and how animated they can be. When I was at Farm Sanctuary earlier this year I had so much fun rubbing their bellies and listening to them grunt with satisfaction. [...]