As a volunteer at Winslow Farm for nearly a decade now, I have observed many interactions between the animals that live at the sanctuary and the adults and children that visit.

I recently observed something that I’d never seen before. I saw a mother supply her child with a pair of disposable gloves before allowing the child to touch one of our sheep. I was rather stunned and surprised by this action. Before I continue, I must say that I did not ask why she supplied the gloves and I would not question any mother’s reasoning for her actions towards her own child. However, what I saw got me to thinking about how some people may think about animals.

I was fortunate to be raised with animals, dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, you name it. Animals have always been a part of my life and I found much pleasure in my interactions with them and still do.  When I see an animal, I want to touch it, scratch it, hug it, smell it and play with it.  I’ve been drooled on, stepped on, shed on, peed on and been used as a scratching post. For me, any interaction with an animal is a joyful experience.

When I observed the child with the disposable gloves, I felt sad that the child was not able to feel the gorgeous wool on the sheep, how thick it is, how dense and warm it is and how soft it’s lovely ears were.  Instead, I thought that perhaps the child was being taught to fear touching the animal, that perhaps he may ‘catch’ something and that he was being robbed of a wonderful chance to experience a glorious interaction with a lovely, docile creature.

 
Every child should experience being with animals without fear. They should feel the corse hair of a goat, experience the radiating love from a dog, the soft fur of a rabbit, the purr of a cat winding around their feet or feel the great strength in the muscle of a horse. All of these moments are special and lovely. It goes without saying that children should always be cautious, especially around large animals, but exposing children to animals is an essential part of life. The right exposure to animals teaches children to be caring and kind, to see the world from the animal’s eyes. There is a famous quote by Anatole France which reads, “Until you have loved an animal, part of your soul will have remained dormant.” Enough said.

~Diane Rose

Levi

Little Levi, a four week old goat, is Winslow Farm’s newest resident. He was rescued from a slaughter auction, destined for an Easter dinner. The baby goat had his horns burned. Many young goats suffer through this, then are slaughtered. Luckily Levi was rescued from this horrific fate. He will grow and thrive at Winslow Farm. He will receive the best of care and get loving attention. He will have the freedom to run and play, as well as enjoy the companionship of the other animals. We look forward to having this little fellow as the latest addition to Winslow family.

Howie is a 270 pound Nubian goat, who was brought to Winslow Farm when his long time companion passed away. Howie missed his friend so deeply, he spent his days laying on the grave of his friend. He stopped eating and his owner became very concerned for Howie. When Howie first arrived at Winslow Farm, he was still grieving and remained isolated from the other animals for some time. In the last few months fortunately, Howie’s spirits have lifted and he has enjoyed the companionship of Cotton, a goat rescued as a baby from an auction last year. Cotton and Howie have been inseparable and now share a stall together in the main barn.

Unfortunately, Howie has medical issues with the tendons in his front legs, along with arthritis. Howie has been placed on arthritis and pain medicine to keep him comfortable.

Howie was recently taken to Tuft’s Large Animal Clinic in North Grafton, in an effort to explore Howie’s medical options. The doctors at Tuft’s explained Howie could have a medical procedure to cut his tendons, which would mean Howie would need to wear casts for 3 to 4 months, all in an effort to alleviate his pain. The down side to this procedure would be the casts would not help him stand and could cause sores on his legs. Howie would experience much discomfort during the healing process.

Debra White, President of Winslow Farm, opted first to trim his toes evenly, as the outer toe grows much faster and sets him off balance. This being said, his inner toes remain compromised from his weight. If they are trimmed evenly this should help somewhat. Howie will begin to receive Adequan, a non steroidal injection, which is normally used on horses who have tendon problems. Howie will receive the Adequan injections every 4 days for one month, for a total of 7 injections. The cost of the initial injection will be $325. If successful, the injections will be given once a month for maintenance, with an additional ongoing $325 cost. Howie will also need to have his hooves trimmed every 4 weeks to keep him standing level. If the Adequan treatments do not help, then Howie will be given cortisone injections every three months.
Winslow Farm will need to purchase a lift for Howie in order to hoist him off his feet when his hooves are trimmed. Because he weighs 270 pounds and has pain in his knees, he falls to the ground when each hoof is lifted to trim them. Howie requires sedative injections in order to to trim his hooves to alleviate the stress he feels from the trimming. The lift will cost $1,000 and could also be used for other goats, sheep, llamas and alpacas, as well, if needed.

Winslow Farm needs to raise $5,000 to recover monies from previous medical expenses. Howie’s medical expenses alone have been $3,000. To go forward with Howie’s new treatment plan, we are asking the public for any assistance they can offer towards these medical costs to keep Howie, our beloved gentle giant, standing tall.

If you are interested in assisting us, you can email us at wnslofrm@aol.com, call 508.285.6451 or send your tax deductible contribution to Winslow Farm Animal Sanctuary, 37 Eddy Street, Norton, MA 02766. You can also make an online donation through Network for Good: http://preview.tinyurl.com/7ryj54d

We received good news, a kind offer was made to match any donations. Thank you!

~ by Debra White

Pandy

Norton, Massachusetts: Winslow Farm Animal Sanctuary, located at 37 Eddy Street, will be holding a Yuletide Event, December 10, 2011, from 12–3 PM and 6-8 PM.

Visitors can take a tour the farm and meet the amazing variety of wonderful animals who live there, then stop to meet Santa, who has flown in especially for this event. Later, sit by a roaring fire and enjoy the beautiful scenery. In the evening, there will be a lovely candlelight walk through the barns at Winslow Farm, where one can take a few moments to appreciate the beauty and peacefulness of the season. This is an outdoor event; we suggest appropriate winter weather dress.

Admission is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children and kids under 2 are admitted free. Hot chocolate will be available for sale.

Winslow Farm Animal Sanctuary is a nonprofit animal reserve, which is owned and operated by Debra White. The farm was established for the care of abused and abandoned farm and exotic animals.

Visitors to Winslow Farm can receive a personal tour from a volunteer guide. They can walk the farm’s peaceful surroundings, among friendly llamas, emus, horses, goats, sheep, pheasant, pigs and much more.

Winslow Farm also offers a nature trail, full playground, birthday parties, perennial garden, nature trail, hand washing station and many activities throughout the year; for a list of those activities, please call the farm and request a brochure or log onto www.winslowfarm.com.

All donations made to Winslow Farm are tax-deductible. For more information regarding Winslow Farm, please contact Debra White at 508-285-6451 or email: info@winslowfarm.com.

Kora

Winslow Farm currently has three shelter dogs living at the farm. We encourage those who are looking for a dog to consider the many homeless dogs living in shelters. This is Kora, a sweet one to two year old affectionate dog looking a permanent home. Kora was one of several dogs at the event, who needs a permanent home. Kora won the costume contest. You can contact Paws New England if you are interested in Kora.

The Goodness Gracious representatives.

Nickel & Dora

Nickel and Dora participated in their first 10K run and had a great time.

The Winslow Farm animals were very curious about the goings on. All the horses were by the fence watching all the activity. Forest, the horse, was very interested in this cute little pup and the little pup was very, very excited by the little horse. It was a wonderful day for both the humans and the animals.

Winslow Welcome Stand Gets A Direct Hit

Norton, MA - When Hurricane Irene blew through, taking out trees and power lines all over New England, she also managed to destroy the welcome stand at Winslow Farm.

Winslow’s welcome stand had greeted visitors from for almost two decades. It was the very first building on the sanctuary, which was originally a cranberry saltbox building. Debra White originally had it moved here on a flatbed trailer from a farm stand in Taunton, MA.

As the first thing visitors see upon entering the gate, the welcome stand served an important purpose, to house a friendly volunteer face that would meet and greet fellow animal lovers from the local neighborhoods, as well as from many miles away and to introduce the sanctuary and the animals that live there.

Sadly, the stand was completely destroyed when a tree fell on it during the hurricane. Winslow Farm is seeking donations in order to pay for the hauling of the downed tree and to rebuild a new stand, as well as to replace a section of fencing that came down as well.

Debra White, President of Winslow Farm said, “We are very fortunate that the majority of our structures and most importantly our animals, remained safe during the storm, but we are in need of help now to replace our welcome stand. We always appreciate any help we can get from the public.”

Anyone wishing to donate money or labor hours to help with the costs can contact Debra White at 508-285-6451. All donations to Winslow Farm are tax-deductible.

Photos by Connor Johnson. © All rights reserved.

A champion bubble maker.

Kid’s Day began with a bang on Saturday. Literally. There was thunder and a down pouring of rain to begin the festivities. However, it wasn’t enough to dampen anyone’s spirits. The sky quickly cleared and good fun was had by all. The day featured bubble making, old time hoop games and face painting. On Sunday, shell painting was offered. Both days had a treasure hunt and each child went home with a goodie bag.

A young horseback rider.

Pony rides were very popular both days. On Saturday, Lunar accommodated many riders, who seemed to enjoy the pony’s gentle nature.

Even the farm’s younger volunteers enjoyed themselves on the bouncy blow ups.

Spirit

Not only was it a fun day for the kids, but some of the animals enjoyed themselves as well. Spirit shares a barn with Lunar. He patiently waited until the pony rides were done for the day. Then he was let out to get some well deserved exercise. It was quite a sight to see the handsome, young horse gallop around the barn.

Cotton

Welcome to the newly renovated Winslow Farm website and blog/news. We hope you like what you see. We would love your feedback. We hope to keep you updated with all the goings on at the farm.