When I was trying to pack for my internship in December - I remember things seemed hectic. I was depressed, stressed out, and still getting over a betrayal that left me less than trusting of other humans. I dont know why I thought it would be a good idea, then, to throw myself into the middle of a bunch of strangers - but I was certainly right. My disposition, outlook on life, and personality started to change significantly once I started to live at the sanctuary. I remain awe-inspired by the power of Animal Place as an organization, as well as the serenity of the sanctuary grounds themselves. I would like to share my experience over the past 6 months, if you would take the time to read it: The last 6 months was a whirlwind of making and saying goodbye to friends. The week after I arrived, it snowed. I was officially in a winter wonderland! As soon as I arrived, I began the long process of meeting the hundreds of non-humans that call the sanctuary home. In December, I met and said goodbye to Milea Trujillo, though I shall try to reconnect with you soon! In January, I said goodbye to Gabby Levey and Rocky Schwartz. And of course, Andrea White was one of the roommates when I arrived, and stayed through March. I feel so lucky to have the perspective of people from other countries, since Ive only ever lived in California. The people from the US I met have also given me perspective on other parts of this country. New Years eve with Andrea and Rocky eating vegan ice cream and watching Jurassic Park was so much better than the swankiest party could have ever been. Elizabeth Kongsgaard and Brooke Biddlecombe arrived with the New Year. Now the household was truely international! Andrea and Brooke representing different areas of Canada, and Elizabeth from Denmark. The sanctuary also said goodbye to Willie the goat at the beginning of the year, whom I had connected easily with. To have seen and been a part of the love that surrounded him on his last day truly fills my heart with joy, though I am sad I could not get to know him better. In February I met two new residents of the sanctuary - the calves Panda Bob and Mortimer. I love them, and Id like to think they at least like me, even though Im not the one who feeds them. They moo at me when Im on my way to visit them. I also met Lisa Zorn, another roommate! Lisa came in from the bay area, and we even got to meet her rabbits when her husband brought them to visit. We said goodbye to Elizabeth at the end of the month, who went on to do more amazing work and go on more adventures. In February, I also lost my best friend of 19 years. A grey cat who loved me deeply from the moment she met me until the moment she died. This experience compelled me to connect even more to the animals I lived with. March brought two more roommates - Kate Reynolds from New York and Annie from Southern California. Now the house was full! It was Andrea, Brooke, Lisa, Kate, Annie, and I. There was still a spare bed, but we were almost at capacity. In March a dear friend of mine, Broughty, went missing on his way to Nevada City, near the sanctuary. I went out searching for him all over the area, and on the weekend in Sacramento, where his car was found. He was later found deceased. This was another huge loss for me. Brooke started the advocacy portion of her internship, having spent two months in Animal Care. It was awesome to be such a dynamic duo helping to coordinate the Spring a Hen rescue - where Animal Place coordinated the adoption of 1800 hens from a free-range egg farm. When egg-laying hens reach the age of two or three years old (they are still very young), they are considered past their prime of egg laying, and so are killed. Here in California, they are generally just composted. This particular farmer wanted to go out of business, so he was not just de-populating, he was going to kill all the ones except the few he wanted for personal use. Animal Places Rescue Ranch program works with farmers to surrender the hens to us, so we can adopt them out to forever homes who wont eat or kill them once they stop laying eggs. I got to be a big part of the process for this rescue. Usually Rescue ranch takes in the girls, then finds homes. This time, we were already to capacity with lovely leghorn ladies, and too short on staff to house them in our other facility. So, we did the CRAZY task of finding homes for these girls with a few weeks notice of when they needed to be gone. Brooke and I sorted through a sea of adoption forms, some from out of state and country which we had to reject outright. Social media has a great way of spreading news. There were articles in the news about it. Some people left messages on our adoption coordinators machine about getting their order of hens filled. There were a lot of people who didnt exactly understand what we were about. Lots of people, though, sounded like awesome chicken-keepers. One guy was actually in the coop spending time with his chickens when I called him to do the adopter interview. Then, when the rescue came, it turns out I was needed at the last minute. The rescue was on Broughtys birthday. It was so empowering that I would be helping to grant these hens life, and this fact helped me to grieve over my cat and my friend. The barn these hens were living in was horrible - basically a tent with a little ventilation, with a layer of chicken excrement as a floor, which was crowded with too many perches - even thought it was very good conditions compared to most egg farms out there. I was so happy to get them out of that situation. I will never willingly eat eggs again. Lisa, Brooke and Andrea left at the end of March. It was sad to part with people Id lived with for so long. And as I told Andrea, the house simply isnt the same without her around. Patty the pig also passed away in March. Marigold the piglet arrived in April. Jamie, the Animal Care director, resigned and moved (along with her furballs Wendel and Pixie) in April to be closer to family. Caretaker Jan Galeazzi also moved to Rescue Ranch to be the new manager there. I still find Wendel hairs around the office. :) April also saw the arrival of Eva Ndor from Germany. Now it was Eva, Annie, Kate, and I in the intern house. Annie and Kate left at the end of April. Barbara Schmitz moved away in early May to pursue an opportunity in an area better suited for her. She was so very supportive of me all those months, I cant thank her enough! Jessica arrived in May, another advocacy intern! So I had some company at my computer, which I missed after Brooke left. Three little piglets - Rudy, Georgina, and Magpie - arrived on my birthday! I went on vacation and it was so strange to be away from the Sanctuary. I kept thinking about how much I missed seeing Douglas the cow stalking me from the edges of the cow pasture fence. Once he realized how much he loved me, he would almost always come up for pets, and give me cow kisses. I missed visiting the little Bob and Mortimer calves too. I went camping, and realized how blessed I was to always be in out in the country. The mountains werent too different from the hills. I was impressed with how accustomed I had gotten to the country, so on the nights where I tried to sleep in the city, it was difficult. Im sure Ill transition back eventually. Mr. G, the goat, and Jellybean, the burro just recently arrived as well, along with lots of media attention because of their video, which went completely viral. Mr. G and Jellybean also have a facebook page. I said goodbye to Douglas today, and it was sad. I hope he knows Ill be back to visit and volunteer. After months of being patient with the sheep, I was even honored by Carmen - a shy three-legged Barbados sheep - letting me pet her yesterday. Ive been trying for months! To all the staff I got to know at the Sanctuary - Kim, Marji Beach, Jacie, Toni Okamoto, Moses Jhai, Estelle, Kristin, Ciara Fiack, Celeste, Laura (feel free to tag the people Im not friends with)- thank you for being a part of this amazing experience. You all taught me so much! I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of something so huge. The people at Animal Place truly devote their lives to making sure Animal Place is truly a sanctuary - HEAVEN ON EARTH - for hundreds of formerly farmed, abused, and neglected animals; as well as working their butts off to adopt out thousands of others and educate the public about whats really going on. Some people dont believe it is possible to live in a world of compassion towards all life - but Animal Places very existence PROVES that it is possible, and I think everyone who visits can feel the power of this message. I am blessed to have been an intern here.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 05:10:19 +0000
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