Lawrence!!

On Thursday, Jack and I drove from Philadelphia to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY, to visit our adopted steer, Lawrence.  We hadn't seen Lawrence since shortly after he was rescued as a calf in 2011.  You can read about his rescue here.  We were amazed and impressed by how much he's grown!  Our little calf is a big guy now!

Jack is 6' tall and I'm 5'5", so you can see how tall he is!  His caregiver estimated that he weighs about 2500 pounds!  Lawrence is sweet, and he was curious about us.  He enjoyed the head rubs and neck rubs we gave him.  We were covered in steer saliva when he was done inspecting us!

We're so blessed to be able to help support this wonderful guy and to be able to pet him and show him how wonderful he is. 

Lawrence has many steer and cow friends at Farm Sanctuary.  One of them decided to re-arrange my hair with a gentle snuffling and a bit of steer spit!

Steers and cows are not hamburger, steak, rump roast, or lactation factories  -  they're animals, like we are.

 A young turkey was also in the mood for hairdressing and did her best to give me a new style.  (By the way, all the animals have names, I just wasn't introduced to all of them.)  There are older turkeys, at least one of whom had the end of her beak and her toes cut off, a normal factory farming practice, causing her great pain and diminishing the quality of her life.  Thank goodness she's found a home at Farm Sanctuary, where she can be lovingly cared for.  The turkeys enjoyed being hand fed grass we pulled for them.  I think one would have curled up in my lap like a cat.  Another young one dozed off in the sun.

Turkeys are not Thanksgiving dinner or tetrazzini or snacks at a Medieval fair.  They are animals, just  like we are.

We hand fed chickens, and some pigeons did their best to pretend they were chickens!

Chickens are not fried dinners or soup or nugget snacks or cutlets.  They're animals, like we are.

There were sheep and goats, but most of those were far out in the fields.  Jack made friends with one goat who enjoyed having his neck and head rubbed.

Goats are not pulled goat sandwiches or stews.  Sheep are not lamb chops (from babies only a few weeks old) or stews.  They're animals like us.

When we were there in 2011, they had just rescued a piglet they named Eric.  Read about his rescue here.  Eric was the most joyful little guy when we met him, despite what he'd been through.  If you've  ever wondered if animals feel delight, happiness, pure unadulterated glee, you only had to see Eric.  He's a big boy now.  I forgot to take a photo of him, but here are some of his friends.  Pigs sleep most of the day.  They bury themselves in straw for a long comfy snooze.  In the winter they even bury their friends in the straw to keep them warm, like you and I might tuck in a loved one.  A pig is a good friend.  They love to have their bellies rubbed.  Even though their skin and hair feels coarse, they're very sensitive.

Pigs are not bacon, pork chops, ham, baby back ribs (again, babies only a few weeks old), roast suckling pig (oh, my God!), or loin roasts.  They're animals, like we are.

The weather was gorgeous.  Farm Sanctuary's New York sanctuary is in the Finger Lakes region, a beautiful area of lakes and vineyards and hills and rolling fields.  The fall foliage was orange and rust and yellow and red, and there were New England asters and other wildflowers blooming by the road.

It was a wonderful trip, renewing and reaffirming.  I went to bed smiling and I smile every time I think of all the rescued animals we met who touched us and gladdened our souls.  But my heart aches for the hundreds of millions of animals, just like these sweet animals, who are abused, tortured, and slaughtered in this country every year.  Every year.  

We are all animals.