Current Press Releases

Farm Sanctuary Offers Free, Family-Friendly Tours at Memorial Day Open Houses

Visitors Offered a Chance to Meet Hundreds of Rescued Farm Animals at Special Holiday Events

Watkins Glen, NY and Orland, CA - May 22, 2008 - Farm Sanctuary, the nation's largest farm animal rescue and refuge network in North America, is offering free guided tours of its breathtaking shelters in Watkins Glen, New York and Orland, California on Monday, May 26. The Memorial Day Open House is a popular annual event, giving people of all ages and backgrounds a unique opportunity to meet contented cows, playful pigs, talkative turkeys, and many more friendly farm animals who call Farm Sanctuary home.

Farm Sanctuary's shelters provide lifelong refuge to hundreds of animals rescued from factory farms, stockyards, slaughterhouses, and cruelty cases. Some of the new residents people can meet at the New York open house include: Goodwin, a pygmy goat from New York City; Andy and Joan, piglets rescued from a factory hog farm; and Georgia, Dandy, Freckles, and Cash, a group of young sheep who survived abandonment at only days old. At the California event, guests will greet: Loretta and Harrison, a mother-son pair rescued from neglect at a ranch in Santa Cruz; Maya and Rosa, two jolly pigs who showed up on the shelter's doorstep this past winter; and Cupid, a formerly slaughter-bound calf who now has a second chance at life.

Event participants at both shelters are also invited to browse the People Barns where they can shop for Farm Sanctuary merchandise, refreshing snacks and other novelty and educational items, as well as find information on the organization's many rescue, education and advocacy efforts to protect farm animals from abuse.

The New York Memorial Day Open House will be held at 3100 Aikens Rd. in Watkins Glen, New York. The California event will be held at 19080 Newville Rd. in Orland, California. Directions to Farm Sanctuary's shelters can be found at http://www.farmsanctuary.org/farm/. The events are free and open to the public. Guided tours of both farms will be offered on the hour starting at 11 a.m. The last tours begin at 3 p.m. Groups are welcome. Please call 607-583-2225 or visit www.farmsanctuary.org for more information.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at http://www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.