As usual, I was driving to work this morning, listening to VPR, when I heard a story that just made me want to blog about it. The story was about a horse sanctuary in Georgia. As an animal lover, I can rarely listen to heart wrenching stories about animals because I just get too involved. However, this story was most interesting.
As you probably know, the south is in the throes of a three-year drought. Many family farms have been sold, grain is going up in price as is fuel. This means that farmers, and even the folks who have a “just a few animals” on their land, can no longer afford to feed them. Further, since there’s no grass left for to graze on, many animals, including horses, are being abandoned.
If you were to Google “horse sanctuary” you find so many hits, that it quite overwhelming. For that matter, Google any animal, pig, cow, dog, wolf, llama, and add the word sanctuary, and there are just too many hits to count.
If you’re interested in sanctuaries, we’ve got one just over the ridge from the College called Mountain View Farm Animal Sanctuary. If you visit the web site, you’ll find that they’ve been in business since 2003 and why they got started. Then, there’s the Hooved Animal Sanctuary in Chelsea, VT.
If you want to travel a little bit further, a place that’s very close to my heart is Wolf Hollow in Ipswich, MA. This is an amazing gray wolf sanctuary where you can get darned close to the animals to see them and hear them. The educational experience is worth a visit for adults and children. The presenters equate wolf pack relationships to family relationships, illustrate communication patterns, and pack roles.
Some books in the Library that you just might want to check out are–Beyond Wolves: the politics of wolf recovery and management, and The Scalpel and the Butterfly: the war between animal research and animal protection. The call numbers for these books, as well as others, can be found the in the VSC Online Catalog. Or, stop by the information desk to ask for assistance.
Kewl ALERT!!!!!
In celebration of Women’s History Month, Library staff member, Pat Webster, can be heard on VPR this Friday, between 7:45 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., to discuss a treasure she found in the LSC Library archives! How kewl is that?!
Remember, I’d really like to hear from you, so feel free to post your comments! -v-
