From the AP:
“Michigan Sanctuary Gives Respite for Wounded Animals, People”
(Jordan Purol
and Angela Verville feed a mare and her foal at the Sunrise Animal Sanctuary
near Ossineke, Mich., on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. The sanctuary offers refuge and
welcome for animals that have been abused, neglected, or cast out of their
homes and is also a place where people battling addiction can feel like they
are valued and needed, despite their scars.)
Everyone needs
to be wanted, from humans to horses to a sheep named Special Ed. On an
unpretentious parcel of land south of Ossineke, the Sunrise Animal Sanctuary
offers refuge and welcome for animals that have been abused, neglected, or cast
out of their homes. It is also a place where people battling addiction can feel
like they are valued and needed, despite their scars. Snorts, grunts, and
friendly nickers mix with the woody smells of animal feed and mulch at the
sanctuary — a farm where 30-some horses, handfuls of goats, sheep, chickens,
pigs, cows, and ducks, and a donkey named Jack seem to adore the people who
care for them, The Alpena News reports. Many of the sanctuary’s workers are in
recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. Some paid employees and some
volunteers spend hours upon hours at the farm, tending to the animals, fixing
fences, and kissing soft noses.
Like many of
the farm’s residents, Big John — a giant, gentle Belgian draft horse who begs
for nose rubs — was once unwanted, saved from a kill pen by Jessica
Glenn-Beatty and Jason Beatty, who run the sanctuary. He understands being
unwanted, said Jordan Purol, as he and volunteer Angela Verville gave a tour of
the farm last week. Purol has been employed at the sanctuary for a month. After
a dozen years in recovery and many years of employers turning him down, the job
offers him a chance to build the better life he wants to have, he said. “It
feels good to finally feel respected,” Purol said. “I’m not used to that.” Verville,
a volunteer at the sanctuary for the past year, knows she’d be in a very dark
place if it weren’t for the farm. She’s been sober about five months, Verville
said, and addiction is a daily struggle. But, as she scoops food and mucks out
stalls, she doesn’t think about using. “When I have a bad day, I come here,”
Verville said. “It helps me release that bad day.” Fenced fields stretch behind
a large barn full of slanting sunlight, where an arena offers space for the
equine-assisted therapy and therapeutic riding programs offered by the
sanctuary.
The animals who
live there haven’t had an easy life, and the humans who care for them
understand what that’s like. Big John has the run of the field, along with
several dozen other rescued horses. Some came to the farm starving or injured,
with a club foot or lame. Boo, a white horse blind in both eyes, gets picked on
by the other horses. The thin, shy outsider is her favorite, Verville said, as
Boo nuzzled her shoulder. London and Paris, two horses raised together, had to
be separated because of fighting. “But you guys will be back together again,
I’m sure,” Verville reassured Paris, who, she said, misses her adopted brother.
A blind cow named Ray, turning a red and non-seeing eye toward his visitors,
has a gentle nature under his angry look. Ray walked in circles when he first
got to the sanctuary. Now, he has a cow friend — because a friend can help you
see, Purol said. Several rotund pigs galumphed through several inches of mud,
deceptive pig smiles on their upturned snouts. A pig pen is dangerous, Verville
said, warning that pigs will eat anything, including humans who hold still for
too long. A wooly tripping hazard, Ed the sheep stuck close to the humans as
they toured the farm, appearing unexpectedly behind them or colliding with
their hips. A new addition to the sanctuary, Ed the sheep regularly bumps into
fences, trees, and people. They call him Special Ed, and they adore him,
Verville said. Rescued animals stretch in all directions at the farm — a grumpy
turkey who attacks legs but still gets loved, a gang of six devoted chickens
who go everywhere together, Jack the donkey who was brought inside for comfort
after his friend died. Many of them are free-roaming during the day and could
leave if they wished. They don’t, though. For those who have experienced being
unwanted, a sanctuary is a good place to be. The sanctuary is always in need of
volunteers to groom and feed and care for the animals, and it’s open to
visitors who just want to spend a few peaceful minutes with animals who are
happy to see them. Verville hopes more people in recovery will find their way
to the sanctuary, where, whatever their past or present, they are needed,
valued, and understood. “It really is like a big family here,” Purol said. “It
makes you almost feel normal again.”
^ This place
gives a second chance to humans and animals alike. ^
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