No Jewelry?

Nope - no jewelry today.  A different kind of post for me.  I hope you indulge me...

About two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary  (PSAS)- a rescue organization specifically for farm animals.  I happened upon PSAS well over 10 years ago, and I have been a supporter ever since.

The sanctuary, located in Poolesville, Maryland, is located on 400 acres of land.  It is located about 60 miles from my home in Northern Virginia.  Anyone who lives in this area knows that 60 miles can mean a one hour drive - or a three plus hour commute.  I was blessed with an hour and half drive that day, and I rather enjoyed seeing the route up River Road in Potomac, Maryland (you know....where "the other half" lives)!  Man, those homes were HUGE!

According to Terry and Dave - two of the most wonderful and caring people I have ever met - some of the larger animals  (cows, horses, etc.) have  an open area that equates to one mile long by two miles wide.  It ends at the Potomac River, and the views of Virginia from PSAS at the river bank are beautiful.  I did not take photos of the scenery, though in hindsight I should have!  I only took photos of the beautiful residents, all of whom were saved from some awful sort of abuse: slaughter, physical beatings, starvation; several were going to be offered for sacrifice.  Breaks my heart...

I have said this before - it takes a special kind of person who devotes their lives to the care and treatment of others, be it animals or people.  Terry and Dave fall into that category.

The rest of this post is simply some of the pictures of the beautiful residents of PSAS.  Here is a link to their Face Book page: PSAS

Most of the animals are super friendly and LOVE to be petted!

Zachary - OMG so cute!  This little guy climbs trees to feed off the leaves!

This is LOKI - he was rescued from the Prince William County Animal Shelter.  This is where I adopted Sarge.  LOKI was found on a roadside near my house in the County, and spent a few weeks in a 3' x 5' area at the Shelter.  When I saw him at the Shelter and inquired as to why he was there, I was told they were waiting for someone to claim him.  I contacted PSAS and they rescued him the next day.  He was covered in sticky black tar, starving and so afraid of people - Terry believes he was abused.  He is SO BEAUTIFUL and SO HAPPY now!!

That little guy on the right has only 3 legs - the owners needed to have his leg amputated and told the Vet "do whatever with him - he is useless to us now".   As you can see from the next picture below, 3 legs suffice!

Terry gave us a HUGE jar of Animal Crackers to feed as treats to the goats.  I found it ironic that the treats were Animal Crackers! :)  Just like a dog, they corralled around us for their treats!

The horses were too busy eating....  :)

The oldest resident at PSAS - Gloria the mule.  She is 38 years old.  OMG she was so friendly, so beautiful, so content!  Gloria was with the pack of horses when we arrived in this field, left the horses to greet us, and then went back to her herd!  An Ambassador! 

I cannot remember this little (ha!) girl's name - but she is BLIND!  She arrived at PSAS at just a few weeks old and has been blind since birth.  She feel off a truck that was destined for slaughter.  

Look at that beautiful color!!

This is a Guernsey Cow - she is almost 7 feet tall!  And so gentle!

Terry sprayed the cows with Citronella to temporarily aid in getting rid of the flies.  Interestingly, "they" do not make fly masks for cows, like they do for horses.  Most cows are not pets, like horses, so the industry has not pursued creating pest control measures for these beautiful creatures.  The cows LOVED to be sprayed!

This is Wilbur - he has terrible arthritis, but manages to get up on his feet twice a day for feeding.  And boy, did he enjoy getting his tummy scratched!

There were tons more piggies in the mud field - but I did not get a chance to venture that way.

These are actual residents of PSAS - most of the fowl come "uninvited", though all are welcome.  These two were dropped off at PSAS the week before I visited - someone tried to raise them as pets.  Naturally, Terry and Dave welcomed them with open arms.

I left the Sanctuary with such a wonderful feeling - I cannot quite put it into words.  But, I am so grateful that the world has Terry and Dave.

Thank you for indulging me today in one my passions!  Have a great day!

Patti