Rescue Stories

On July 20, 2020, a massive fire razed a New Jersey egg farm—killing almost 300,000 trapped hens.

Before coming to Farm Sanctuary, Freddie and Lenny led parallel lives. The Jersey and Ayrshire calves were born around the same time—each at separate dairy farms in New York State.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and tasked with the “depopulation” of his hens, one California egg farmer decided to free them instead.

Given her prognosis, it’s surprising that Appa is still alive: most farmers would opt to send a disabled animal like Appa to slaughter—and “replace” her with a healthy animal—rather than pay for specialized care.

As a “bummer lamb,” Otto couldn’t nurse from his mom; in fact, he couldn’t even open his mouth on his own.

It took a life-threatening injury to save Squid from slaughter. The Suffolk lamb was bred at the request of a Future Farmers of America (FFA) program: a student would raise the purebred lamb for show, and then sell him at auction for meat production. Those plans fell apart within three days of Squid’s birth, though, when his mom accidentally trampled his leg.

After enduring years of neglect, Venus and Cupid now have love on their side.

Find out how Farm Sanctuary and five other animal Sanctuaries came together to help rescue over 100 animals from a backyard butcher in Florida.

Holy cow! For five glorious months, two cute baby calves took over Farm Sanctuary, capturing the hearts of everyone they met.

The slaughterhouse workers called her “95.” They had painted that number on her side—then added another red line on her back, likely marking her for death.But the sheep we now call Elli had other plans. In mid-February, she escaped her confines and ran for her life: going “on the lam” for the next ten days. Now safe at Farm Sanctuary, Elli doesn’t have to run anymore.