Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary

Isadora

Isadora is a runaway Boer goat from one of the Borough’s live markets, places where animals are hand-selected by customers and slaughtered on site.  She was found along with her friend and co-escapee, Duncan, seen at the intersection of the Hutchinson River Parkway and I-95 South.  After spending her recovery time at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY, she and Duncan were transferred to Safe Haven just in time to be our first residents in our new barn!

Duncan

Duncan is a pygmy goat who was transferred to Safe Haven along with Isadora after their daring escapade from the jaws of death to freedom.  Still a young fella, he is having a blast exploring the pastures and forests here at the sanctuary.  He and Isadora are inseparable and cry loudly if they are apart for even a few seconds,showing the bond forged by their shared adventure.  He’s a little guy with a big attitude!

Boomer

Boomer is a Boer (meat) goat born at Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary on July 9, 2008 to a beautiful and loving mother, Matilda. Matilda became pregnant while crowded into a live market in the Bronx from where she was rescued. She was loaded with parasites and had a serious viral infection and was very frightened of humans when she first arrived. With medication, frequent veterinarian visits, and great nutrition, Mattie, as we call her, got well, but her stomach continued to get bigger. Several vet visits couldn’t confirm her pregnancy, but on July 9 she delivered a beautiful baby boy. Boomer looks very much like his mom. He has long ears and a white streak up his face. Soon after being born, he got up and wobbled around his stall. It didn’t take him long to find his mother’s milk, and he soon was jumping and twisting and leaping around playfully. Boomer is a lucky boy; had his mom been slaughtered in the live market he would never have been born at all, or if he had been born in a feedlot or auction pen prior to being shipped to the live market, he would have been allowed to live only a few months. Unlike Mattie, Boomer has never know anything but loving human contact; he is not afraid like his mom was, and in fact he loves to play with humans, big and little. With Boomer’s birth, his mom has become trusting and loving too, seeing that humans can nurture and care for animals, especially her handsome son.

Kate

Kate is a lucky chicken. Having survived both a factory egg farm and a crowded poultry store, she was finally relinquished to Safe Haven where she is now happy to spend her days scratching in the dirt and just being a chicken. For a new arrival, Kate is unusually friendly and trusting. She already likes to be pet and despite her severely severed top beak, she loves food and will come running when she thinks you might have some. She gets along great with Burdock and loves to snuggle up next to him at night on the roost.

Lamikins

Lamikins was born in April 2008 at Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, New York, one of 15 or so lambs born that spring at a historic farm that breeds sheep for public display. She is a Dorset-Wiltshire mix, a typical combination that is supposed to mimic the appearance of sheep raised in the 18th century on colonial farms. Although Lamikins was bottle fed by the farm staff after her mother rejected her, she was quickly labeled as a nuisance because she would bleat for a bottle when the staff came through with a group of visitors. The sheep at this farm were allowed to breed without much consideration of the amount of pasture or barn space, reportedly because the public liked looking at the baby lambs. The number of sheep and babies quickly became unwieldy, and Lamikins in particular had to go because she had become a nuisance. A kindly farm worker bought her and tried to find her a permanent home but to no avail. Each permanent home quickly evaporated until the day before the truck was scheduled to take the sheep and lambs to slaughter. Lamikins was welcomed to Safe Haven, no longer being treated as an object of commercial value, to live out the rest of her life playing with her new animal friends.

Cory

Cory is a black miniature horse. Miniature horses are found all over the world; they usually range from 34 to 38 inches tall at the withers and include several breeds. They are too small to be ridden and were often used to pull carts, most notably in the coal mines of Wales. Cory lived the first 17 years of her life with one family in New Hampshire. As the years went by, and the children grew, the family acquired several large horses, and Cory was ignored. She was too little to ride and the family had no cart for her to pull, so she had nothing to do. The big horses picked on her, and she ended up spending most of her time alone in a small dirt paddock. Horses are herd animals and very sociable, so Cory’s separation led to compulsive rubbing and overeating. She was sad and lonely. Her family heard about Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary, and when we heard her story, we welcomed her to join our family. When Cory climbed down the ramp from the station wagon, her ears pricked up and she whinnied and heard several friendly greetings from the sheep and goats in return. She eagerly trotted toward the barn to meet her new friends.  All of her lonely habits have since disappeared, and she looks forward to petting, grooming, and relaxing in the pasture.

Matilda

Matilda, a Boer goat, was rescued from a live meat market in the Bronx, where she had been kept in a crowded pen awaiting slaughter. She was very sick upon her arrival at the farm,  infested with parasites, and had contracted a viral illness. We later found out that she had been impregnated while on the way to slaughter, so she would have been killed along with her unborn baby. Even after arriving safely at the farm, it took her awhile to trust people. She was checked and treated by the vet, and received, probably for the first time, gentle loving care and delicious, healthy food. She gradually lost her fear of humans, and started running and jumping in the pastures and nibbling cranberries and blueberries from human hands. Over time, it became apparent that Mattie was pregnant and she delivered a beautiful baby boy in July. Despite her youth, Mattie is a great mom, feeding and cleaning her handsome young baby and watching over him. Matilda has forgiven us humans and stands quietly while we pet her baby.

Basil

Basil is a Boer goat, a breed raised for meat. She was also rescued from a live meat market in the Bronx. She was very leery of human contact when she first arrived at the farm but now loves to play and jump on hay bales. She actually loves to be the clown in the group and do silly acrobatic stunts on any prop she can find. She loves fresh baby carrots and other treats, and you will often find her standing on her hind feet reaching into the branches of a tree to get the leaves. She is such a pro, that she has taught baby Boomer the same trick.

Sprinkles

Sprinkles the sheep was found in a live market in the Bronx in a pen crowded with animals awaiting slaughter. Her ears were missing their tips, evidence of frostbite from having been kept outside in a bitter winter cold. She also had many parasites and a bad cough, and made no natural sheep sounds. Since coming to Safe Haven, Sprinkles has lost her parasites and her cough and now *Baaas* like a natural sheep. She also enjoys a good scratch behind her ears and going out in the sun with her pal, Angel. When you enter the barn, Sprinkles is often the first one to come up and say hi, showing us all that she has learned to trust again.

The Manhattan Project

Lucy, Bella, Madeline, Yoshi, and Luna are just a few of the 19 new chickens that now call Safe Haven home. Rescued from a parking lot in Manhattan, these brave souls endured the elements while ekeing out an existence through handouts and whatever water happened to fall from the sky. Originally egg-laying hens, all but our 2 roosters have been severely de-beaked, making daily tasks like eating and drinking a challenge. Despite their rough start in life, they have already realized that they are finally in a safe space. Their personalities are diverse, and we look forward to getting to know each and every one better as they continue to settle in.

Silky

Silky is a beautiful Barred Rock rooster who was rescued from a crowded pen in a live meat market in the Bronx when he was just a chick. In fact, he was crowded in with so many boys and girls that he couldn’t move. Despite being grabbed by both legs and flung onto a scale to be weighed, Silky quickly forgave us humans for the pain and suffering he had endured. Upon arrival at the sanctuary, he was the first to inspect his human caregivers and allow himself to be petted. Receiving the nutritious food and affection he had been denied for so long, Silky quickly grew into the handsome rooster he is today. He struts around the barn showing off to his friends, and guards the chickens as they sun themselves under his watchful eye.

Angel

When Angel came to the sanctuary from a live meat market she was timid and made no sounds. She is a lovely white lamb that had been destined to be killed and served at the dinner table. It took several weeks of loving, gentle care before Angel would allow herself to be touched. Now, she runs around the pasture with her good friends Sprinkles the sheep and the other animals. Although the most timid of the crew, she loves to eat cranberries and carrots, and shuts her eyes and wags her tail while she gets scratched behind her ears. She has learned to trust humans, and her willingness to forgive us for her past misery and pain should be a lesson to us all.

Sadie, Roslyn, Ducky and Emma

These beautiful turkey girls were rescued from a factory farm at only days old. They were just cute yellow fluffballs and had already endured having the ends of their beaks and their toes cut off.  Despite their rocky start to life, they have grown into happy and healthy young ladies, and enjoy spending their time poking around the pastures, lying in the sun, or hanging out with their human and animal friends. In fact, you can hardly walk anywhere around the barn without them right behind you!

Burdock

This colorful little bantam rooster was left at a local park by a petting zoo, who decided that it would be easier to replace him than to try and catch him. Luckily, we were able to come to his rescue before a hungry animal found him. Although shy at first, Burdock has become more comfortable around his human companions and enjoys spending his time hanging out with his new friend Kate.