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Announcing: Heartland's Pot Bellied Pig Campaign!
Last month, Heartland Farm Sanctuary took in our ninth
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Welcome, Tank!
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pot bellied pig, Tank. Though not really a typical farm animal, these pigs need our help:
approximately 95% of them are abandoned or surrendered within the first year! Tank, like the other eight, was a pet who didn't turn out to be quite what his human family expected. Potbellied pigs, sometimes misrepresented with names like "micro pig" or "teacup pig", are touted as great house pets who will reach a top weight of 22-38 pounds.
False!
This fall, Heartland will launch our
Pot Bellied Pig Campaign to educate the public about the realities of these smart, challenging, and wonderful animals. Our campaign will include helpful pot bellied pig information, rehoming assistance, consultation to pot bellied pig homes and educational trips into the community with our pig educator and ambassador, Percy.
Stay tuned for more information!
If your school or organization would like a weekday visit from Percy, please email Dana Barre or call (608) 219-1172.
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Fall 2016 Animal Hearts session starting soon!
Beginning Thursday, September 15th and running for eight weeks is Heartland Farm Sanctuary's
Animal Hearts Kids' Program! We invite youth ages 8 through 12 whose lives have been impacted by trauma or loss to participate in a fun, supportive, engaging group at our barn. Total cost is $40 per child. This weekly program is from 4:15 PM - 6 PM.
If you are interested in facilitating our fall 2016 session, contact Dana at [email protected], or call (608) 219-1172.
For more information and to register, click here.
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Heartland's kids' camps: Summer wraps up while we look forward to fall
The Madison-area kid crowd couldn't get enough of our summer day camp at the farm! We filled 11 weeks in record time with many campers coming multiple weeks and promising
to be back next year. Our camp is so popular for the obvious reason - kids love animals - and the not-so-obvious - it's just the right mix
of structured group activities and time for kids to choose from a variety of options, including arts/crafts, games and just hanging out in the pastures with their favorite animal friends.
This summer we offered two weeks each of special themes,
Animal Careers
and
Barn
Tales
, plus a brand new
Animal Ambassadors
week.
During Animal Careers, HFS hosted daily guests who work with animals, including a groomer, an animal trainer, Madison Mounted Police (with their horses!), an MPD officer and his K-9 partner, a bird expert, an elephant caregiver from an elephant sanctuary and more!
During Barn Tales, kids wrote stories, plays, mini-movies, poetry and informational pieces about the animals at Heartland and presented them to the group. Animal Ambassadors taught campers useful and effective methods to help animals both in their community and around the world, and did engaging projects that put those methods into action. We're already looking forward to next summer!
Fall camp registration is OPEN!
If your child missed out on summer camp, or just misses being at the farm, never fear! Fall camp is here!
This year's fall camp will be held every
Saturday
from
September 10th through November 5th
(with the exception of
October 1st,
when there will be no camp.) Camp hours are from
8:30 AM to 3:30 PM
and the cost is $420. Partial-day options are available and will be prorated
. Contact Camp Director Sunshine Stokes to discuss partial-day options.
All of Heartland's youth camps involve morning chores and plenty of hands-on activities with our friendly farm animals. Fall camp has half the enrollment of summer camp and allows for a more intimate camp experience. Campers will do fun crafts and build a caring community through cooperative games and projects.
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What's happening around the barn?
 Welcome, Fern and Jewel!
Earlier this month we had two newcomers join the Heartland flock: Meet
Fern and
Jewel! Fern and Jewel are female Cayuga ducks that were found abandoned in Milwaukee. Unfortunately, domestic ducks being "released into the wild" is not an uncommon problem, and most dumped ducks do not survive. A huge thank you to our volunteers Todd and Sarah Wilson for rescuing these two girls and caring for them before they came to Heartland.
They've already found their place in our flock, and are enjoying the sanctuary life!
An update on Sherman the friendly sheep
Sherman is fully recovered after his emergency surgery last month. He was recently introduced to our goat and sheep herd, and spends his days outside with his buddies, grazing in the Heartland pastures. He also really seems to enjoy the company of our llamas, Mick and Thor! Sherman could quite possibly be the fuzziest, most polite sheep we've ever met - but he still needs a sponsor!
Will you be Sherman's sponsor?
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Heartland T-Shirts are here!
We just received our latest shipment of Heartland t-shirts! If you'd love a t-shirt featuring Heartland's own
Winnie the pig or
Zeus the goat,
email Jamie!
Shirts are available for pickup or we can ship to you. We currently have women's t-shirts available in pink, green, charcoal gray and violet. Youth t-shirts are available in pink or lime green. All shirts are $20 (plus shipping, if applicable). Men's styles will be offered in the future, as well as additional animal designs.
Our online store will be opening soon!
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Thank you, Carrie!
Say hello to Carrie, one of our "Good Eggs" for the month of August. Carrie has been volunteering at Heartland for over two years, starting as an animal care/barn volunteer. She now runs the animal care shifts on Thursday and Saturday evenings, along with every other Sunday. Carrie is great about filling in on shifts when extra help is needed, and lends her time to help with our special events. If you're ever at the barn, there's a good chance you'll see Carrie's smiling face there, too!
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August Volunteers of the Month: Patty, Amber and Ashley Klar!
Meet Patty, Amber and Ashley Klar, our fabulous August Volunteers of the Month! Patty and her two daughters help out at Heartland in various ways - they are former barn/animal care volunteers, and now they represent Heartland at our Mounds tabling events (see Ashley and Amber with their great display in the picture!), and assist with barn tours! These ladies are hardworking, dedicated volunteers and have such a passion for all things Heartland. We are incredibly fortunate to have this wonderful trio in the Heartland family!
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Barn volunteers needed!
Do you love animals and enjoy working outside in a challenging and fun environment? Heartland needs animal care volunteers for all days of the week, morning and afternoon. You must be available to volunteer one shift a week (3 hours) and commit to working at least 6 months. You will make the best friends of your life at the Heartland barn! Please
visit our volunteer page to apply.
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August Volunteer Info Session
Heartland is hosting our monthly Volunteer Information Session on Wednesday, August 31st from 7-8 PM at the Verona Public Library. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about Heartland, and how to get involved as a volunteer! To RSVP, email Tracy at
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Dana Barre
Executive Director & Founder
Heartland Farm Sanctuary
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