She didn’t attract a lot of attention, minding her goat business and going with the flow.  She didn’t think much of us humans, but then her former home didn’t exactly inspire affection for humans among any of the goats in her herd. She was an easy keeper, though, young and healthy, and we appreciate having a few of those kind of goats around!

But two days ago, Rosa suddenly attracted a whole lot of attention when she came hopping in from the pasture on three legs. A quick exam had us worried that her injury was serious, and an hour later our vet arrived to confirm our fears. Her leg was broken. The only question (aside from “how the heck did this happen?!”) was whether or not it could be fixed.

Whenever we have a farm animal who requires medical care that can’t be performed here at the sanctuary, we turn to the amazing doctors at Michigan State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. If something can be done to help save an animal, they can do it there.

Rosa and I headed up to East Lansing today, and after an hour or so of x-rays and consultations between the large and small animal departments, they decided that not only could they fix Rosa’s leg, but they would make the price tag for the surgery within our reach by donating the surgeon’s time and many of the other costs. One of the doctors said to me, “We know SASHA Farm does things for farm animals that other people won’t, and I think we can help you do that.”

So right now, a surgeon who normally “works on poodles” is working on little 35-pound Rosa, placing metal pins in her broken leg. She’ll need a long, quiet recovery period and a few more trips to the clinic to check her progress, but her chances of a full recovery are excellent. We are so relieved.

Already, Rosa has won the hearts of a couple of new sponsors. Thank you so much! We just need a few more people to help us cover the cost of Rosa’s surgery and after care. You can sponsor her and receive a great certificate and updates about her progress, or you can donate on our website. Be sure to mention that it’s for Rosa. We also have a Paypal account that we can gather donations through. You can Paypal a few bucks to dorothy@sashafarm.org if that’s easier. Of course, you can always send Rosa a check, too. (Probably should make it payable to SASHA Farm since Rosa doesn’t have a Social Security number or state ID card! PO Box 222, Manchester, MI 48158)

Send Rosa all your good thoughts! We’ll update as we receive news.

Sponsor a turkey for only $50 – that’s $10 less than the rest of the year – now through November 19th, and we’ll make sure your sponsorship package arrives before Thanksgiving.

The turkeys thank you!

They are celebrating their ten year anniversary right now with an offer to add $10 to every donation of at least $10 that you make when you use this link:

www.justgive.org/10years

Even if you can’t give right now, share the link with your friends. It’s a great opportunity to make your donations go a little further!

This is a really interesting post from another blog. We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.

We’re really excited about our first calendar! SASHA Farm volunteer Catherine Reysz has been working diligently on this calendar inspired by Nova, a beloved sanctuary dog who passed away this past year after a battle with bone cancer. She hopes to use proceeds from the dog and cat themed calendar for a special fund for small animal medical expenses.

We hope to have the calendars ready to ship by the end of October, and by pre-ordering yours, not only will you help us better determine how many to print, but you’ll receive your calendar before anyone else!

Pre-order yours today!

It’s been another hard year for many causes.  The approaching holiday season gives us a chance to help SASHA Farm.  It requires your participation, but it’s free and definitely easy.

iGive.com is going to attempt to donate $5,000 in just 24 hours to SASHA Farm and other causes.

This is the link:
http://www.igive.com/welcome/warm_reg_promo.cfm?m=577306

That’s it.  Don’t forget to try our search yourself (http://isearch.igive.com).  You may need to login first.

Robert N. Grosshandler
Founder

Since we now have a reliable group of weekly volunteers to do animal care, we’ve decided to expand our program to those who can only come occasionally. Of course, there are a couple of catches. First, you’ll need to go through a New Volunteer Orientation. Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to contact us by noon the day before you’d like to come (or by Friday at noon for weekend volunteers) for planning purposes. You won’t be trained to do animal care, but you will spend plenty of time side by side with them as you help keep their home sparkling clean. Other jobs might include gardening or other yard work, minor repairs or office work.

Interested? Email volunteer@sashafarm.org for upcoming New Volunteer Orientation dates or more information.

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To the person who left Peep and Red at our gate,

Thank you for caring for them enough to find a place where they can both safely live out their lives. They are healthy, lovely birds, and it’s clear they were well cared for.  (Next time, though, we’d appreciate a call or email first.)

SASHA Farm staff

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This morning, Dorothy looked out her window just in time to see a hooded figure running away from the gate where he had left a small cage stuffed full of something. No, someone. Monte quickly ran outside to see who had been abandoned at our gate. He found a hen and a rooster, along with a note and a donation toward their care.

Peep and Red

Of course, it’s simply not safe to abandon an animal anywhere. They are very lucky that Dorothy happened to be looking out at that very moment because that gate isn’t used often and it’s very hot here today. The person who brought these chickens must have  felt they had little choice, but we don’t want to encourage others to do the same. It’s much better to simply call us! Even if we can’t help, we’re often able to help you find someone who can.

Peep and Red, welcome to SASHA Farm! We know you’ll be very happy here, and we hope the friends who brought you are very relieved to know you’ll have a safe, happy home for the rest of your lives.

A few minutes later, I met him at the door to greet our guest. I expected a scared, timid cat, but as soon as I picked him up, he snuggled into my arms purring loudly. I brought him in and set him down next to my cats’ food dish, which just happened to be in use by two of my cats. No one batted an eye at the new guy, and he ate like he hadn’t seen food in weeks.

I watched while he finished his meal, showed him the water dish and then the litter box, and after a just-in-case flea treatment and check of the teeth and undercarriage (middle-aged neutered male!), I stepped back and watched him explore the house. When my dog ran in from her potty break and stopped to sniff him, he purred and rubbed himself on her face. Clearly, this cat was no stranger to a busy household filled with  four-legged friends. He laid down on the couch for a nap, later snacking a little more and moving to my lap to watch late night Buffy reruns. When my usual lap cat, the household princess Moxie, hissed her displeasure, he simply yawned and went back to sleep. This morning after breakfast, he bounced up next to me on the couch, rolled over playfully and let me rub his tummy.

This would be a fabulous happy ending for this poor guy, except that my household can’t take another feline friend at this point. I have the perfect ratio of cats to litter boxes, and no room to add more. (Anyone with multiple cats knows that this ratio is important, and when you upset it, you end up with pee on the floor. Or in your shoes.) The SASHA cat barn is full and closed to new cats, and besides, he really wants his own people.

He’s a bag of bones right now, but still very handsome. He’s obviously very smart, too, considering he followed a bag of bread right into the car of a guy whose wife works for an animal sanctuary. Surely, someone needs this awesome cat! Please? With vegan cookies on top?! Contact me at amanda@sashafarm.org or 517-605-5959.

Don't even try to resist this face.

(Disclaimer: This is not a SASHA adoption, but I’ll still ask you to sign a contract stating that you’ll treat him well and bring him back to me should things not work out.)