Friends I've made at the Lighthouse Farm:
Today I want to tell you about a person I met over the summer and the most amazing place he has created. His name is Wayne Geiger and he founded the non-profit Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary after finding that farm and larger animals (horses, cows, llamas, sheep, goats, pigs, etc.) taken from abusive or neglectful situations rarely had a place to go. This fact often prevented them from receiving the help they deserved. With the goal of providing a safe haven for these beautiful creatures, Wayne created the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary, located on 52 wonderful acres in Scio, Oregon. The farm is run under the principal that all domestic animals deserve five basic freedoms:
- Freedom from malnutrition - all animals have a right to a healthy diet.
- Freedom from disease - all animals deserve clean and well-ventilated housing.
- Freedom from discomfort - all animals deserve shelter from the elements, protectionfrom predators, and proper healthcare.
- Freedom from fear or distress - all animals have a right to feel safe and unthreatened.
- Freedom to express normal behavior
After a personally very trying and stress-ridden 2007, I found information online about the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary. I had been investigating opportunities (volunteer and paid) for working with animals...returning to my roots and passion, so to speak.
The first time I drove up the gravel driveway of the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary, I felt an enormous weight being lifted from my shoulders. Literally, a feeling of peace flooded my body. It was such an odd and unexpected physical sensation. I hadn't felt like this in years and all I had done was drive up a gravel road with farm animals on all sides of me. Be sure to check out the official LFS site if you'd like more information: http://www.lighthousefarmsanctuary.org/.
My son and I go out every second Saturday to work on Volunteer Day. This is a good place.
I think this is great. I am by no means a vegetarian, but I am still APPALLED at the way comercial livestock are treated. Just because an animal is going to be somebody's dinner does not mean they should live a miserable life. They especially should be able to live as God intended. I was very conflicted about keeping chickens and turkeys because I knew I'd have to eat them if I every wanted to turn a profit, and had almost decided not to do them at all since it would break my heart, until I read a book by Jeanie Peck-Whiting. She was so honest and respectful about how her animals are treated, and she gives them the BEST possible life because happy animals are more productive, and its so important to respect them even if you're going to eat them. She completely changed my mind about it. So did Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. She refers to it as animal harvest.
ReplyDeleteHi DeconstructingVenus, I agree with what you say about caring for the animals - all animals, pets and production - in the kindest, most humane way possible. Thanks for the book recommendation - I've read a few B. Kingsolver books that I loved, so I'll look up the 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' book - it seems appropriate for where my life is going right now!
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