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The extra large Animal Acres welcoming committee - Pinto and Punky Doodle Photo: Animal Acres
Since I’ve already stretched the term "pet rescue" to include elephants, and those who’ve read previous articles know my fondness for chickens, I’d like to offer a couple of great animal-oriented family or individual field trip options for the new year.
Did you know that the greater Los Angeles area is home to not one but two farm sanctuaries – one I’ve been lucky enough to visit, and another I hope to see in 2009.
Last year I visited Animal Acres in Acton (about 40 miles north of the city), which was a blast. After meeting two very charming senior dogs who function as Animal Acres greeters, I got to meet chickens, turkeys, a couple of pigs the size of sofas (pigs aren’t naturally supposed to be that big, but what with hormones and genetic engineering…), sheep, cows, some shy donkeys who kept their distance and, in my view the highlight, several really nice goats. Who knew goats were so good-looking and soulful? And who knew they had rectangular pupils? Amazing. Animals Acres’ goats are sweet, sociable types who love a good head scratch and don’t mind meandering along to keep a stranger company…completely enjoyable.
The soulful look - and the rectangular pupils - of Firecracker the goat Photo: Animal Acres
For those of you who are viewers of the Morgan Spurlock show “30 Days” you may remember Animal Acres as the sanctuary where a hunter-turned-animal-activist volunteered. He remained pretty resistant to the idea of treating animals humanely until he participated in the rescue of a cruelly mistreated male calf named Sugar. During my visit I got to meet the famous Sugar (now re-named Pinto). Actually, I didn’t meet him so much as I was surrounded by him and two of his equally large friends. At only five foot one, it was an awesome experience to be surrounded by cattle who were easily as tall as I am – and they’re still growing! But they had lovely manners, only wanting to say hello, take a sniff, and be good cow-hosts. I loved Animal Acres and hope to go again soon.
Unlike at a real farm, at Gentle Barn calves and moms get to stay together Photo: Gentle Barn
The other local farmed animal sanctuary is called The Gentle Barn, located in Santa Clarita. Like Animal Acres, they offer educational programs, including one for at-risk youth, as well as providing a loving home for all types of animals. They’ve also been tapped to help in massive animal rescues, such as the much-publicized Lancaster arrest of a man who was hoarding, and terribly mistreating, over four hundred animals. Gentle Barn stepped up to rescue and rehabilitate many of these animals when County shelters were overwhelmed.
So this year I’m definitely visiting Gentle Barn, and I hope to visit Animal Acres again – who knows how big little calf Pinto has grown by now!
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