Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Real Horse Rescues | Catskill Animal Sanctuary | ABC-WTEN



As mentioned in my previous post, this film was clearly done very close to when my dad and I visited CAS, so most of the animals are the same ones I saw. And this segment is wonderful!

Pics from Catskill Animal Sanctuary

I know I just posted that I would not be as active on this blog, but I just took a trip that I think is best shared here. I went to upstate NY to see my dad, as I do every year. I always try to get to one of the upstate farm sanctuaries, though our schedule doesn't allow me to do this every year. This year I had an added incentive. For Father's Day, I had decided to sponsor an animal at CAS (Catskill Animal Sanctuary) in my dad's name as a present. This comes with a family membership for the year. I cancelled my vegan cuts subscription to make room in my budget (sigh). Since CAS is the closest sanctuary to my dad's house, I figured this was the way to let him get the most out of a membership.

Mr. Peabody and our tour guide, Christian. The kids from "Camp Kindness" are playing in the background.


We ended up sponsoring a rooster named Mr. Peabody. Mr. Peabody came from a grade school hatchery experiment. Apparently when these lessons are over for the kids, the baby chicks often meet unhappy ends. We also met some small hens whose legs were deformed because they came from a school incubation project, and the kids forgot to turn the eggs and let both sides be exposed to light and warmth. Of course in nature, a hen knows to turn her eggs. But anyhow, Mr. Peabody and his siblings went to CAS, and the rest is history.

Besides meeting Mr. Peabody, my dad's favorite resident was Bob, a 48 year old mule. We also gave some pigs belly rubs and met many ducks, horses, and sheep. CAS has a specialty in rehabilitating blind horses, and they have a special paddock where we met those special critters.

Left to Right: Dad, Bob, and Christian
One of the coolest souvenirs that I came away with was that a couple of my photos (three actually) had beautiful rainbow light anomalies on them. Two were an overhead shot of the farm from the driveway, and one was of Bob grazing under a tree. I don't know if these light anomalies were of the scientific/photographic or spiritual nature, but either way I choose to take them spiritually. No matter how they occurred, they are there for a reason. I feel they are very reflective of the peaceful, loving, and very spiritually evolved energy of the farm. I was very glad we got to visit, and I am very glad I chose to invest my money there.

Bob under a rainbow tree (click to enlarge)

My own photos are here, and I will share a video interview with the CAS founder in a separate post. It was filmed very recently, so it shows most of the same critters my dad and I met.  

You can find CAS at https://casanctuary.org/

I highly recommend that anyone reading this research where there may be a farmed animal sanctuary near to them. Some are private, but the ones with farm tours are usually non-profits that are highly accessible, and are valuable members of any community.




Farm with rainbow light anomaly (click to enlarge)

Friday, July 10, 2015

New Blog Site

Hey there! I have a new blog domain for my vegan pagan specific ramblings, so I wanted to send folks that'a'way. I will still post in here occasionally, but most of my efforts on this topic will be found at:  http://www.witchesandpagans.com/pagan-culture-blogs/ahimsa-grove.html

Thanks, and blessed be!  Leslie

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

WARM New Year Wishes

Well, how did 2015 happen?! Things have been moving at a rapid pace for me, as usual. Except last week, when a head and chest cold brought everything to a screeching halt. I don't get really sick very often since I went vegan, so this has been a frustrating experience. Yet my recovery has been quite rapid and I have not relied on pain killers or other drugs to prop me up, so I still feel an improvement.

I just want to share a few pics from our vegan holiday potluck in my neck of the woods (very cold woods), and send my wishes to everyone for a peace-full 2015. Let this be the one. Let compassion spread and freedom blossom for human kind and for the other animals who share our Mother. Blessed be.



cheers, Mom!