I recently had the pleasure of visiting Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary in Deer Trail, CO. Approximately 1.5 hours drive from Boulder, Peaceful Prairie provides a safe, loving home to rescued farm animals. Having hit upon hard times–their main well and cisterns froze and broke in the recent cold spell–Peaceful Prairie is currently doing a fundraising campaign to get back on their feet. During the tour, we learned that they’re slowly recovering (though they definitely still need help!) and it was an honor and a privilege to get to meet some of the human volunteers who run the sanctuary, as well as some of the gorgeous non-human animals who make the sanctuary their home.
Here are some pictures of the non-human friends we had the pleasure of meeting at Peaceful Prairie:
Beautiful cows at Peaceful Prairie in Deer Trail, CO
A beautiful pig
Lovely fowl at Peaceful Prairie
A banana-loving pig at Peaceful Prairie.
Justice the cow stole my heart! What a sweetie.
There I am, explaining to a goat that I am a vegan.
A lovely bovine friend at Peaceful Prairie.
Whole Foods donates expired produce to Peaceful Prairie. The animals love it!
Lots of great goats at Peaceful Prairie.
A goat friend at Peaceful Prairie.
Some of the crew at Peaceful Prairie.
Courtney and a new friend at Peaceful Prairie.
During the tour, I heard the story of a lovely goat who was rescued a few weeks ago by the sanctuary. Originally “owned” by an organic, “feel-good” goat dairy farm, this goat was only a few years old but had already had 6 kids (all of whom were stolen from her) and was “spent”–meaning she could no longer produce milk that could be commodified by humans.
At the time of rescue, she had a severe eye infection and parasites that were left untreated because–now here’s what’s so important to convey–organic farms aren’t allowed to use antibiotics to treat their animals.
This is a horrible reality that must be shared with vegetarians and omnivores who purchase and consume cow or goat dairy from these so-called “feel-good” organic farms as an alternative to animal products from factory farms. There’s nothing “feel-good” about them for the animals who suffer. I am grateful this goat was rescued and to be able to pass on this crucial info.
Sanctuaries like Peaceful Prairie are a fantastic and important reminder to me of why I am vegan–seeing rescued animals always motivates to try harder and do more for the animals. Eating a vegan diet and telling others about being vegan are important steps, but there’s always so much more we can do. Interacting with the non-human animals for whom I choose this delicious, easy, and extremely rewarding lifestyle known as veganism is such a pleasure.
I look forward to returning to the sanctuary at some point in the not-too-distant future and wish Peaceful Prairie continued success with their fundraiser. You can learn more about Peaceful Prairie and donate to their fundraiser here.
Thanks for the official report on our great day. I enjoyed this experience immensely.
Visiting an animal sanctuary is quite different from for-profit zoos. Instead of viewing animals in an exploitative setting, behind glass, or on an unnatural landscape, a sanctuary lets you engage with the animals and learn their stories. These animals mostly come from abusive backgrounds or upbringings and are clearly happy to be spending their days together. It’s perplexing to me how only even a few minutes with a pig, cow, or goat wouldn’t – in an instant – change someone’s eating habits to strictly plant-based.
Really true, Josh.
I can’t understand how someone could still eat animal products after visiting with these beautiful animals (or as my partner calls it, “making out with goats.” This definitely did not happen.) I went to visit the sanctuary with one of my dear dear friends who has been ovo-lacto for ten years. She said that in order to enjoy her time at PPS, she had to block out the things that Michelle was saying. Sounds like a case of cognitive dissonance, and that it would be easier to just go vegan, but she doesn’t see it that way…
Hey, you should check out the donkey sanctuary that’s east of Denver! It’s called Longhopes and it is really a fun place to visit, especially if you’ve never met donkeys before. A lot of the donkeys are rescued from either abusive owner situations or off of the horse slaughterhouse tract. We spent a long time there brushing the donkeys and don’t forget to bring apples and carrots for them to eat! We found the sanctuary through ColoradoGives day and its one of the things I’m going to miss about Colorado now that we’ve moved. If you donate, you get the quarterly newsletter, which I always thought was really sweet (as in cute-sweet). http://longhopes.org/
awesome!! thanks so much! I’ll have to check it out 🙂
[…] I Support Peaceful Prairie: After visiting Peaceful Prairie in 2013, I fell in love. Read a bit about my experience in my blog post recounting my visit. Peaceful Prairie isn’t a “glamorous” sanctuary, but the staff work tirelessly to […]
Would like to come out for a visit what is the address
Definitely the best move is to check out their info on their website. They require advance notification–for the animals’ sake. Hope this helps.