You've told us want to know more about the animals at SASHA Farm, and we hear you! That's why every week day this summer, we're going you introduce you to a different animal. It might be a new arrival, or it might an old favorite who deserves an update. Either way, we hope you enjoy their stories!

In addition to meeting them, we hope you'll consider a sponsorship. When we post the animal of the day, we'll report who sponsored the animal who was featured the previous day. You can help by sharing the posts with your friends. At the end of the summer, we hope that every featured animal has at least one sponsor. Help us make that happen!

A big thanks to everyone who participated in our Walk for Farm Animals and 4-Mile Fun Run. Here are the results of the run. If no time is listed for an age category, there were no runners in that category.

Womens

15-19 Jasmyn Tooles 54:27

20-24 Diana Hasler 125:50

25-29 Kristy Dellach 44:49

30-34 Lori (running for Robert Trustman) 44:19

45-49 Debra Buijk 48:35  

Mens

15-19 Josh Hitt 33:18

45-49 Arjaan Buijk 48:36  

Great job, Runners!

If you’re like many SASHA Farm supporters, you’re already aware of the difference you can make in the world when you vote with your pocketbook. You choose your lifestyle and diet thoughtfully, contributing as little as possible to companies or practices you find unethical. You buy cosmetics and household goods that aren’t tested on animals. You don’t attend rodeos or circuses because of the cruel treatment of the animals. Maybe you don’t go to zoos or aquariums because you object to keeping wild animals in captivity. But, what about petting zoos? What could be wrong with letting your children experience farm animals in a petting zoo? Isn’t it important that they connect with the animals others see as only food? Absolutely, but for many animals, a petting zoo is merely a small step on the road to the slaughterhouse.

Most petting zoos have a variety of farm animals for children to interact with, but the focus of most is on very young animals. These barnyard babes grow quickly. So, what happens when the cute 40-pound piglet becomes a 700-pound adult pig? In most cases, nothing good.

A few weeks ago, we received a call from an employee at the petting zoo at Maybury State Park. She was distressed that the management at the petting zoo had decided that a pig named Matilda that she’d cared for at the petting zoo for years could no longer live there. They intended to send her to slaughter. Her crime? This gentle pig who was petted and played with by hundreds, maybe thousands, of children was going to die because she could no longer produce younger, cuter piglets. Of course, when she did produce piglets in years past, they didn’t all stay at the petting zoo. They were eventually sent to slaughter as well.

Most people would never think to present a child a full-sized chicken as a gift, but for some reason, little chicks are popular impulse purchases around the spring holidays. Hatcheries even dye them to make them more appealing and encourage this irresponsibility. These chicks grow fast, with some breeds reaching adult size around 12 weeks old.  

At barely three weeks old, the poor chicks who arrived at SASHA Farm last week already see the world as a pretty scary place, sounding alarm cries when we approach and running madly from well-meaning hands as we tend their warm, safe enclosure. But who could blame them for mistrusting humans? Let's look at what they've already lived through in their short little lives.

Jordan, a four-month old piglet slated to be used for a slew of unnecessary surgeries and then killed in the name of medical research, was rescued this week in the nick of time. 

Young pigs are often used in medical research because they are in some ways anatomically similar to humans. Many times, surgical procedures are practiced on the pigs, and they are euthanized at the conclusion of the surgery. That's exactly what happened to two of Jordan siblings who arrived at the lab with him, and what would have happened to Jordan had he not been rescued by a compassionate person who just happened to be in the lab that day. 

Jordan arrived at SASHA Farm in a small mesh-bottomed lab transport cage. He was spotlessly clean, quite an unnatural state for a young piglet, and it was clear within a few minutes of meeting him that he had been completely deprived of the opportunity to perform very natural pig behaviors, like rooting in fresh earth. He's making up for lost time, though, and very soon, he'll be able to join the other SASHA pigs in the pig pasture, where there are other piglets his age to play with. 

We are so grateful to Jordan's rescuer. Because of her, one little pig's destiny was changed forever. 

You can sponsor Jordan and help us rescue and support him and others like him for their entire lives.

There's a great new show called "Elizabeth's Kind Cafe" airing on public TV around Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills and some surrounding areas. The host of the show, Elizabeth Katzman, is promoting a compassionate vegan lifestyle in a big way, and she invited us to appear on one of the first episodes. It was so much fun to share some of the animals' stories. We hope you enjoy it!

http://elizabethskindcafe.com/blog/item/250-es-kind-cafe-interview-with-sasha-sanctuary

Elizabeth's Kind Cafe can be seen on Comcast cable channel 15 for residents of Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills. Under a contractual agreement with the Birmingham Area Cable Board (BACB), it provides Municipal Access and Government Access programming for Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms and Franklin.  The BACB's channels are 18 and 15 on Comcast, respectively and 99 on AT&T's Uverse.

One of our SASHA cows, Bella, arrived pregnant this past summer, and her calf, Mr. Rogers, is now 5 months old. We noticed him limping badly, so we made an appointment for him to visit the vet this morning. We removed him from the pasture (and his mom's side) yesterday afternoon to prepare him for his visit, and poor Bella had been inconsolable ever since, calling sorrowfully and pacing the spot at the fence where she last saw him. It's a heartbreaking reminder of the anguish that dairy cows suffer every time their calves are taken from them so that they can provide more milk for humans. Bella and her calf will be reunited this afternoon, but we won't soon forget those cries.

Update: Mr. Rogers was diagnosed with a probably torn ligament. He'll be back in the pasture with Mom in a couple of hours. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDl9QzBrh7A

Rosa, the little goat who had surgery in Late December to repair her badly broken leg, went back the Michigan State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital today so the team of doctors who collaborated on her care could evaluate her progress. 

She's doing great! There has been no significant movement of the bone since the pin was placed, she's healing as expected, and she even had her external staples removed. She's even gained two pounds (significant on her 35 pound frame) since she's been hanging out in a heated stall with a couple of good friends and a mountain of hay.

Even though she was very cooperative, it was still an exhausting morning, so we felt it necessary to stop and get her a good healthy lunch. Falafel, Rosa? Yes, please, she said!

Any smart girl knows that falafel is yummier than salad.

Make a goat girl smile with falafel. :)

Huge thanks to everyone who has donated toward Rosa's surgery. We appreciate it so much!

Thanks to you, our generous supporters, that slippery floor in the cow barn at the new property is being removed today!

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