Stories of Hope (Dec. 5): In Praise of Animal Sanctuaries

There are so many animal sanctuaries I could single out here. These are safe havens for animals, run by people who love them (usually vegans or vegetarians), where all kinds of living beings - pigs and chickens, dogs and cats, bunnies and cows - can live full and peaceful lives, without the threat of being killed. Which one to praise? I picked the wonderful folks at the Ruby Ranch Pig Sanctuary, located right here in Ontario, for all the wonderful work they do to help pigs in all shapes and sizes. If you get a chance, have a look at their Website. The pigs who live at Ruby Ranch enjoy a wonderful quality of life - the way all pigs are meant to live - and the Video I've posted here shows a few of them outside, enjoying the sunshine and just "hanging out" with compassionate humans.

There are so many other animal sanctuaries that do wonderful work that I could not possibly hope to single out all of them on this Blog. Suffice it to say that if you Google "animal sanctuary" or "animal sanctuaries," you'll get a list of these wonderful places in your area. Help them out, if you can. I plan to donate later this month as a Christmas gift to the pigs. Your help - any help - will not only improve the lives of these animals, it will underwrite the kind folks who work so hard, with no real fanfare or applause, and often with the tightest of shoestring budgets. They're the unsung heroes and heroines of our society. But I think nearly all of these volunteers would be the first to say that it is not they who are blessing the animals - it is the animals that are blessing us.