Rescue Stories

Dogs are “man’s best friend.” Cats rule our homes—and the Internet. So where do turkeys fit into our lives? Some might argue, “on a plate.” In 2019, the United States slaughtered and processed nearly 230 million turkeys as food. Roughly 20 percent—46 million—were killed just for Thanksgiving, a.k.a. “Turkey Day.” It’s a fate we would never subject to our companion animals. But Thor, Lady Sif, Freyja, Brunnhilde, and Sheila turkeys were companions. Their former owner, a small hobby farmer, refused to let any harm befall them—even though most other farmers would raise them for meat.

It was the weekend of the 92nd Academy Awards when two cows scored the victory of a lifetime. Liberty, a three-year-old Wagyu cow, was about to face slaughter at a California beef plant. Instead, she gave birth to a baby girl: a life-affirming event that wound up saving them both.

The Sanctuary movement has a hand in transforming the way people view and treat farm animals. Since Farm Sanctuary’s inception 35 years ago, we’ve placed thousands of animals, including Lily, Opal, and Jyn cows, with families who value them as companions—not commodities.

Hans was a young goat, wandering the streets on his own—likely after escaping slaughter. Like the billions of farm animals killed for food each year, Hans did not want to die. Something had lit the fire in his belly, causing him to flee from the life he knew. Maybe he found loved ones on the chopping block. Maybe something felt off and he took that as a sign to bolt. He was worlds away from the comforts of a warm, clean barn and protection from his herd. But he was alive.

All Boots wanted was a family. He was a twin, and his mother only had the strength to feed one lamb, so she had rejected him shortly after birth. To make matters worse, they lived on a sheep farm that breeds lambs for meat.

After years of suffering for dairy, Shirley goat got a glimpse of sanctuary.

Pietro is a Holstein calf. Holsteins are commonly raised for dairy––and in dairy, boy calves are generally sold for meat. But the farmer couldn’t sell Pietro. The newborn was sick, and he had a broken leg. He could barely stand, let alone walk. It wouldn’t be worth their time or the cost to nurse Pietro to health and then sell him.

This is as much Otis’s rescue story as it is the chance to honor the unnamed calf who helped him find Sanctuary. Otis and this calf lived on the same beef farm. And if things had gone according to plan, both calves would have been killed.

Most teens can’t wait for their first set of wheels. Tyler’s car search took a very different turn after checking out a pop-up sale and finding a ram––the sheep kind, not the truck kind.

Four ducklings escape unspeakable cruelty at Hudson Valley Foie Gras.