Farmhouse Garden Animal Home: From Slaughter to Sanctuary, Part 2 of 3

On today’s program, we’ll learn more about Farmhouse Garden Animal Home. The mission of the sanctuary is “to provide a safe home for the animals in [their] care, as well as to show others that farm animals deserve love and compassion.” When Edith and Mike first transitioned from beef farming to running a sanctuary, they wondered about the best way to accomplish the change. "So when we first became a sanctuary, for me, it was all about how many animals can you save, how many can we rescue. And I quickly realized that’s not really an efficient way of making change, because you are never going to save all the animals that need to be saved. There are so many animals in need. And it was so emotionally taxing and difficult to constantly turn animals away and tell people that we have limited capacity. And then I realized, “Well we can make this about more than just the animals at the sanctuary. We can focus on education and bringing people face to face with the animals.“ And there have been so many people that have come here and met the animals, and then told me, 'Oh, it’s really changed my outlook on the food I eat, the lifestyle I live.' So we’ve really pushed education. And we have a humane education program geared towards younger kids, to teach them about caring for the environment and loving animals from a young age. So, it’s been really cool playing around with that, and I think that’s what’s most effective is connecting people with the animals that they would otherwise see as food." Farmhouse Garden Animal Home sanctuary offers tours for many groups, providing guests with precious opportunities to interact directly with their animals. Through their courageous example of transitioning from operating a beef farm to running an animal sanctuary, Mike and Edith hope to inspire others to follow in their footsteps. "I think showing people that someone like a cattle rancher who has been in the business of selling meat for so many years, if somebody like that can make a change, and can follow their intuition, then really anybody can. That’s been a main take away for me. It’s really inspiring for me to see Mike make this transition [because] I think of all the things that he has given up, and all the backlash he has faced, whether it’s from the community or family. So, I think that’s a great way of inspiring people, showing them that anybody can make a change." Many thanks, Edith and Mike, for your noble, compassionate example, which will inspire other farmers to follow in your footsteps. May you and your precious animal friends enjoy long happy lives with blessings from the Divine.