***This was posted to my class blog and it is from the perspective of a vet tech student.
I first learned about Farm Sanctuary while in high school. I saw a video about how a man rescued a sheep from the dead pile at a stockyard and started a sanctuary by selling veggie dogs at Grateful Dead concerts to raise money. Since starting in the 80s, Farm Sanctuary has grown to 3 locations and has rescued hundreds of animals. They educate people about the reality of large scale farming through telling the animals’ stories and advocating for a plant-based lifestyle.
In 2013, I drove down to Watkins Glen, New York to tour the farm and meet the animals. This summer, I received an email about their annual Farm Animal Care Conference. The conference covers how to start and run a sanctuary as well as animal housing, nutrition, behaviour and health issues. As a vet tech student, I was very interested in the animal care sections so I signed up!
I first learned about Farm Sanctuary while in high school. I saw a video about how a man rescued a sheep from the dead pile at a stockyard and started a sanctuary by selling veggie dogs at Grateful Dead concerts to raise money. Since starting in the 80s, Farm Sanctuary has grown to 3 locations and has rescued hundreds of animals. They educate people about the reality of large scale farming through telling the animals’ stories and advocating for a plant-based lifestyle.
In 2013, I drove down to Watkins Glen, New York to tour the farm and meet the animals. This summer, I received an email about their annual Farm Animal Care Conference. The conference covers how to start and run a sanctuary as well as animal housing, nutrition, behaviour and health issues. As a vet tech student, I was very interested in the animal care sections so I signed up!
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| View of the where the pigs live at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY. August 2013. |
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| My first time hanging out with a pig at Farm Sanctuary. August 2013. |
I have a hard time summing up those 3 days into few words. Watkins Glen is a small village with tons of great food. I met a ton of amazing people. There was so much information given that my brain is still swimming with information!
The big message at this conference is that just planning a sanctuary can take years and you should do everything right before you start taking in rescues. Farm sanctuaries have a very small donor base so one miss-step when it comes to fundraising, promotion or animal care can shut down a sanctuary and leave the rescued animals in a bad place. I have friends that have given serious thought to starting a farm animal sanctuary and my advice to them would be to attend that conference before taking any steps towards their dream.
We had presentations in the mornings and “shelter time” each afternoon. For shelter time, we split into small groups and a staff member took us to where that species lives and explained fencing, food, housing, bedding, predator-proofing, basic handling, behavior, health issues and mistakes that can happen. I saw chickens and pigs the first day, sheep, goats and turkeys the next and I ended the conference with cattle, waterfowl, geese with a trip to the on-site veterinary clinic. Personally, I enjoyed hanging out with the turkeys and the goats because they were super curious about my presence there and they were a little feisty!
When it comes to animal health and behavior, rescuing and taking care of these animals come with many challenges. One of the biggest challenges is that vets do not know how to care for these animals. Most animals raised for food are killed before they reach adulthood or geriatric age so vets don’t see most health issues that impact older farm animals. For example:
-Most laying hens wind up with reproductive cancers. Since commercial laying hens typically only live 1-2 years, people typically don’t notice it, let alone treat it. Chickens are really good at hiding their illnesses so you unless you’re handling your birds on a regular basis, you may not notice it. A mass in the ovary will quickly progress to fluid build-up in the abdomen and fusion of the intestines, which can cause them to have difficulty passing food. Farm Sanctuary has developed some protocols with a vet from Cornell over the years through trial and error to improve their quality of life but ultimately, they cannot be cured.
The laying hens are also an example of how we have modified animals to produce more or grow larger to the detriment of their health. These health issues are rarely treated because they’re either not seen during their short life span or it’s cheaper for the producer to kill the animal. For example:
-Mulard ducks are a sterile hybrid that are produced for the meat and foie gras. Rescued females always die from rapid cancerous growths that cannot be prevented or treated.
-Pigs are prone to lameness because of how large their bodies are compared to their legs. They’re bred to have pale skin because consumers prefer the look of white meat so they’re prone to squamous cell carcinomas. They’re prone to nasty foot infections as well which can easily spread to the bone. Pigs are never euthanized because their minds go. They’re euthanized because they are no longer able to do the behaviours they love to do like wallow in the mud or get around in their enclosure.
Antibiotic resistance is a big deal in farm animal medicine. There are many bacterial and parasitic infections that are resistant to antibiotics because antibiotics are over-used animal agriculture. Bacterial infections can vary from region to region as well so it’s recommended that you send a sample in for culture before treating the animal with random antibiotics. It’s a fact that pigs do carry MRSA so they can pose a risk to human health as well.
Veterinarians practice techniques that save the farmer time and money but may not be the most humane way to treat the animal. For instance, it’s industry standard to dehorn cattle while they’re awake. Sometimes they leave the holes to the frontal sinus open. Sometimes they dehorn through cauterization which helps patch up the wound. If cattle de-horning needs to be done at a sanctuary for the safety of their flockmates and for the people caring for them, the animal is sent to a veterinary hospital, put under anesthesia and the openings to the frontal sinuses are sutured shut to prevent infection. Goats are sometimes dehorned in the industry but it is considered unnecessary. Horns on goats can be used to break up squabbles and don’t pose as big as a risk compared to cattle.
Many of the animals at Farm Sanctuary arrived terrified because they were abused or neglected and this can play a role in treating the animal. We met a goat named Elliott who escaped a live market and was running around New York City. When he was captured, part of his ear had been cut off and he had a stab wound because certain cultures believe that stress makes the meat taste better. Elliott goat was so drained that he was initially easy to treat but as he got better, his fear of humans put people in danger and himself in danger because a frightened animal can easily injure themselves in their pen. Also, the agriculture industry doesn’t make some restraints big enough, strong enough or safe enough to hold large cattle so trying to treat an angry or fearful steer can be extremely dangerous and challenging!
Coming out of this conference, I was asked if I wanted to work with farm animals when I become an RVT. The reality is that it would be challenging. Farmers and farm sanctuaries do a lot of their own medical care because they’re remote, it’s cheaper and transporting the animal to a veterinary hospital is stressful. Farm animals fall under a different set of laws compared to companion animals so there is no formal education or training required to do a lot of their care. I would suspect that an RVT interested in farm animal care would have an easier time getting their experience on a conventional farm than at one of the few farm animal sanctuaries. Based on my lifestyle and beliefs, I personally wouldn’t be comfortable doing that! Also, sanctuaries are typically non-profit so to find a paying job would be challenging.
Because of this conference, I would love to apply for an internship in the future. I want to work with these types of animals and experience the hard work that the staff has to do to keep these animals happy and healthy. I also wouldn’t mind providing a home for rescued chickens, turkeys or waterfowl in the future. Maybe goats and sheep. Cattle are a whole other ballgame (I don’t know how they do it!). Pigs are awesome but they’re the most expensive animal care for. For example, a laparoscopic spay on a pig can cost $1 400 and surgery on a hoof infection can be around $11 000! I also have to take into consideration whether there are vets in my area that do treat farm animals and how they treat them because finding a vet to care for rescue animals is a huge challenge. Like I mentioned at the start of this post, planning is key and providing everything they need to live happy and healthy lives can be challenging.
If you have any interest in large animal care, I do recommend volunteering at a sanctuary, like Farm Sanctuary.
Thanks for reading!
Sam
Farm Sanctuary
Farm Animal Care Conference
The big message at this conference is that just planning a sanctuary can take years and you should do everything right before you start taking in rescues. Farm sanctuaries have a very small donor base so one miss-step when it comes to fundraising, promotion or animal care can shut down a sanctuary and leave the rescued animals in a bad place. I have friends that have given serious thought to starting a farm animal sanctuary and my advice to them would be to attend that conference before taking any steps towards their dream.
We had presentations in the mornings and “shelter time” each afternoon. For shelter time, we split into small groups and a staff member took us to where that species lives and explained fencing, food, housing, bedding, predator-proofing, basic handling, behavior, health issues and mistakes that can happen. I saw chickens and pigs the first day, sheep, goats and turkeys the next and I ended the conference with cattle, waterfowl, geese with a trip to the on-site veterinary clinic. Personally, I enjoyed hanging out with the turkeys and the goats because they were super curious about my presence there and they were a little feisty!
 |
| I wish all learning could take place with turkeys! |
-Most laying hens wind up with reproductive cancers. Since commercial laying hens typically only live 1-2 years, people typically don’t notice it, let alone treat it. Chickens are really good at hiding their illnesses so you unless you’re handling your birds on a regular basis, you may not notice it. A mass in the ovary will quickly progress to fluid build-up in the abdomen and fusion of the intestines, which can cause them to have difficulty passing food. Farm Sanctuary has developed some protocols with a vet from Cornell over the years through trial and error to improve their quality of life but ultimately, they cannot be cured.
The laying hens are also an example of how we have modified animals to produce more or grow larger to the detriment of their health. These health issues are rarely treated because they’re either not seen during their short life span or it’s cheaper for the producer to kill the animal. For example:
-Mulard ducks are a sterile hybrid that are produced for the meat and foie gras. Rescued females always die from rapid cancerous growths that cannot be prevented or treated.
-Pigs are prone to lameness because of how large their bodies are compared to their legs. They’re bred to have pale skin because consumers prefer the look of white meat so they’re prone to squamous cell carcinomas. They’re prone to nasty foot infections as well which can easily spread to the bone. Pigs are never euthanized because their minds go. They’re euthanized because they are no longer able to do the behaviours they love to do like wallow in the mud or get around in their enclosure.
 |
| We were shown how to trim hooves and tusks on Tim the pig. |
Veterinarians practice techniques that save the farmer time and money but may not be the most humane way to treat the animal. For instance, it’s industry standard to dehorn cattle while they’re awake. Sometimes they leave the holes to the frontal sinus open. Sometimes they dehorn through cauterization which helps patch up the wound. If cattle de-horning needs to be done at a sanctuary for the safety of their flockmates and for the people caring for them, the animal is sent to a veterinary hospital, put under anesthesia and the openings to the frontal sinuses are sutured shut to prevent infection. Goats are sometimes dehorned in the industry but it is considered unnecessary. Horns on goats can be used to break up squabbles and don’t pose as big as a risk compared to cattle.
 |
| Twister shows off his horns. Imagine handling a full grown steer with that head gear! |
Coming out of this conference, I was asked if I wanted to work with farm animals when I become an RVT. The reality is that it would be challenging. Farmers and farm sanctuaries do a lot of their own medical care because they’re remote, it’s cheaper and transporting the animal to a veterinary hospital is stressful. Farm animals fall under a different set of laws compared to companion animals so there is no formal education or training required to do a lot of their care. I would suspect that an RVT interested in farm animal care would have an easier time getting their experience on a conventional farm than at one of the few farm animal sanctuaries. Based on my lifestyle and beliefs, I personally wouldn’t be comfortable doing that! Also, sanctuaries are typically non-profit so to find a paying job would be challenging.
Because of this conference, I would love to apply for an internship in the future. I want to work with these types of animals and experience the hard work that the staff has to do to keep these animals happy and healthy. I also wouldn’t mind providing a home for rescued chickens, turkeys or waterfowl in the future. Maybe goats and sheep. Cattle are a whole other ballgame (I don’t know how they do it!). Pigs are awesome but they’re the most expensive animal care for. For example, a laparoscopic spay on a pig can cost $1 400 and surgery on a hoof infection can be around $11 000! I also have to take into consideration whether there are vets in my area that do treat farm animals and how they treat them because finding a vet to care for rescue animals is a huge challenge. Like I mentioned at the start of this post, planning is key and providing everything they need to live happy and healthy lives can be challenging.
If you have any interest in large animal care, I do recommend volunteering at a sanctuary, like Farm Sanctuary.
Thanks for reading!
Sam
Farm Sanctuary
Farm Animal Care Conference
