Laverne & Shirley: No Sitcom Beginning, But Happy Days Going Forward

Laverne, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

I am ever fascinated by the eyes of the farm friends I meet. If you have yet to gaze into the eyes of a pig, it is an experience I insist you add to your bucket list. In the vein of those intense bonding exercises done in self-help-style seminars where you share the gaze of a single individual for a long period, looking into the eyes of a peaceful pig will similarly impact you. Notice I specified a peaceful pig, don't be trying to lock gazes with a pig while he or she is trying to eat or one who isn't particularly fond of human types! If you've already had this experience, I would love to know the name of the porcine friend whom you met and what sanctuary they live at - tell me in the comments!

Yoga Animalia: Porcine - Laverne & Shirley

Laverne and Shirley were found in a box, taped up and without any air holes, on the side of a Utah freeway in December. The piglets were about 4 days old, and near death when a woman saw the box move, stopped, and brought them home.  Living in a non-agricultural neighborhood, she could not keep them, so brought them to Ching Farm Rescue and Sanctuary.  There they were carefully nursed back to health, the parasites and grime removed, allowing them to flourish and be the joyous and gregarious pigs they should be.

Shirley, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Shirley, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Troubled Youth: Sven & Grimm Find a New Home

Sven, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

When I first met Sven he had just arrived at his new home and had yet to settle into sanctuary life; he seemed out of sorts and was uninterested in interacting with me or the odd device I carried around and was pointing at the residents around him. Even my odd exhortations and noises failed to rouse him. Knowing now how he had been taken from his mother, thrust into a mix of young humans dealing with issues of their own but expected to offer succor to a frightened young calf (his full story below), and then brought to a new space with many other new species of people he had likely never encountered prior, I think one can understand why Sven would not be amenable to a photo shoot.

That was drastically different the next time I visited. Sven was galloping around the sanctuary with his buddy Grimm, inspecting my camera and me, acting like the goofy and obnoxious teenage steer calf I would expect to meet. And now my sanctuary public service announcement: teenage calves tend to be rambunctious to obnoxious to unintentionally dangerous to the smaller, frailer humans around them - they almost always just want to play, but we are not built to handle a good ol' calf tussle. Visitors to sanctuaries would do well to remember that an 800 pound teenage calf is surely cute and surely going to knock you on your butt if they get feisty, or worse, if they are feeling the stirrings of puberty, try to mount you, so watch your toes and that gleam in their eyes!

Seeing Sven and Grimm run and buck and annoy their elder herdmates Parvati and Nandi was delightful. It was magical to see Sven transformed from a shut down baby to a happy boy, and the love he showed toward sanctuary founder Faith and his adopted brother Grimm was a testament for me to the healing power of sanctuaries. 

Grimm, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Yoga Animalia: Bovine - Sven

Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Raised in a center for troubled youth, Sven was viewed as nothing more than a project to teach the youth rather than the terrified youngster missing his mother that he was. Perhaps it was this that bonded the kids at the center with Sven, but they would not let him be sent to slaughter at the completion of the program, and instead Ching was able to offer him a home. At Ching, Sven found cattle and doting human family, but soon got a best buddy in Grimm, rescued from a similar facility. Together the two boys run amok around the sanctuary.

Sven, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Sven, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Yoga Animalia: Bovine - Grimm

Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Grimm was taken from his mother as a baby and brought to a residential treatment center for troubled teens where raising him was supposed to teach responsibility, and then, after three months, taking him away to be slaughtered was supposed to teach the teens how to deal with grief. Fighting against Grimm’s fate, the teens got their parents involved and were able to get Grimm released to Ching. There Grimm befriended Sven, rescued from a similar program, and found family with the other sanctuary cattle.

Grimm, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Coupled: Celebrating Valentine's Day Sanctuary Style

Sofie and Bela, Farm Sanctuary's Animal Acres, Acton, California

In the spirit of the impending day of love, and to bring a flurry of warm fuzzies amidst the flurries of snow, I offer a smattering of couples from the amorous to the bromantic (I think I may have just committed an unforgivable sin against the English language with that adjective usage).

Calvin and Hobbes, Green Acres Farm Sanctuary, Silverton, Oregon

Buffy and Lucy, Peaceful Fields Sanctuary, Winchester, Virginia

Bandit and Rose, Ching Farm Rescue and Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Charlene and Laura, Animal Place, Grass Valley, California

Blitzen and Moose, Wildwood Farm Sanctuary, Newberg, Oregon

Molly and Randy, Farm Sanctuary's Animal Acres, Acton, California

Fiona and Teddy, Tamerlaine Farm Animal Sanctuary, Montague, New Jersey

Napoleon and Sadie, Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, Poolesville, Maryland

Mr. G and Jellybean, Animal Place, Grass Valley, California

Mr. Rooster and Xena, Green Acres Farm Sanctuary, Silverton, Oregon

Mario and Linus, Farm Sanctuary, Orland, California

Valentina and Valentino, Farm Sanctuary's Animal Acres, Acton, California

Experiments in Compassion: Harry Bob and His Tufted Ears

Harry Bob, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Yoga Animalia: Porcine - Harry Bob

Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Ear tufts maketh the pig. Meeting Harry Bob and the other Bobs who call Ching home on my first visit introduced me to a group of distinct new pig friends of which I had previously been unaware: pigs used as laboratory subjects. Harry Bob and his cohorts had been bred for experiments; their smaller size making them easier to deal with compared to a full grown farm pig. Originally imported to zoos in the 1960's as a novelty, miniature pig breeds like the Yucatan Black to which Harry Bob belongs were also then taken into research laboratories due to the similarity between pig and human DNA. Experiments ranged from toxicology studies to the effects of aging to outright organ harvesting for transplant, but these studies did not highlight the amazing intellectual capacity of porcine kind. Luckily for this troop, Ching was able to secure their release to the sanctuary. Whenever I visit it is a joy to watch them roam the grounds, sun bathe, and create mud holes in inappropriate places, bedecking themselves in mud. Harry Bob and his other Bob cohorts inspect the grounds for treats and stick their snouts in everyone’s business, keeping tabs on the sanctuary happenings. When I visit it makes me gleeful to pick out Harry Bob's wild ear tufts amongst the group.

Harry Bob, Ching Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, Herriman, Utah

Sanctuary Compassion Fatigue Awareness, Part 1 of a Series

"Compassion Fatigue is a state experienced by those helping people or animals in distress; it is an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it can create a secondary traumatic stress for the helper."

Dr. Charles Figley, Professor, Paul Henry Kurzweg Distinguished Chair, Director, Tulane Traumatology Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

I borrowed the above quote from the website of the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project. This post is the start of a personal healing project within the Yoga Animalia Project, and it has to do with my time as a caregiver, and the intensely painful period I went through where compassion fatigue was ruining my life. It will be a topic to which I’ll return at various times; it is painful to write about, so the posts may be infrequent and slow, but I know firsthand that sharing it with others helps not only my own healing process, but can help other people in similar circumstances understand that what they may be experiencing is actually a real problem, not just something in their mind like I thought for so long.

After writing Deuce’s story (if you missed it, grab a facial tissue and click here to read about this amazing boyo), it got me thinking about all the stories of heartbreak found at sanctuaries. Tragic tales are part of sanctuary life. To be honest they are one of the main sources fueling donation requests, pulling the heartstrings of donors, encouraging the spread of the story. I don’t find fault in this; these tales should be shared, the public needs to be made aware, and these rescues or veterinary procedures happen because donations can help pay for it. However, one of the less thought upon aspects of these sanctuary stories is the effect they have on the humans charged with the rescue, rehabilitation, and care of the individuals.

Farmed animal care giving is demanding work, and part of that work requires integrating prior stories of new rescues, which can include grisly accounts or firsthand exposure for on-scene rescuers; continuing to integrate the story as the individual’s personality starts to shine forth as healing happens; adapting as physical challenges present; and then ultimately coming to terms with being part of a discussion about quality of life and euthanasia. And that for each individual in many cases. That is a lot to contain on top of all the physical duties, especially when so few resources can be directed to help the human animals.

As a former caregiver, and in quite a few conversations I have had with other caregivers, I notice a tendency for these tragic tales to weigh on the humans. There is a growing field of study on this topic: it is referred to as compassion fatigue, or secondary traumatic stress. It equates to a lessening of an individual’s compassion due to chronic stress from care giving. I’ve seen and felt this personally and in others when present for new rescues, or major medical issues, or deaths; the accumulation of emotions can be intense and challenging to address. In discussions with leaders in the sanctuary world, compassion fatigue is one, if not the, leading cause for sanctuary caregivers to quit, and many sanctuaries do not even have a name for it other than burnout – one part of compassion fatigue, but not the whole of it.

The purpose of this first post is not to be an exhaustive examination of compassion fatigue – I honestly do not yet have that in me. The purpose instead is to bring awareness – which is the first step to dealing with the challenge. If the included graphic or discussion strikes a chord for you, I seriously encourage you to check out the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project, or if you know caregivers personally, whether they work at an animal sanctuary or are care giving for an elderly human, I encourage you to support them in learning for themselves.

And to end a bit more joyously, I leave you with photos of humans loving nonhumans:

Safran & Danielle, Farm Sanctuary's Animal Acres, Acton, California

Friday & Roy, Animal Rescue Corps, Operation Seasons Change Part 2

Aengus & myself, Farm Sanctuary's Animal Acres, Acton, California - a treasured capture I have of this departed friend.

Sweetheart & Ethan, Animal Rescue Corps, Operation Seasons Change Part 1