The Gentle Barn

I heard about The Gentle Barn a few months ago when I was trying to track down a vegan hot dog vendor Frankenstand. I instantly wanted to go visit and finally got the chance to today.

The Gentle Barn is an amazing rescue and rehabilitation facility for farm animals who have been saved from all manners of abuse. Even though these animals have been treated horribly by humans and gone through unspeakable torture in some cases, they are all so loving and trusting. It's an amazing experience to look into the eyes of a cow or goat and see their sweet loving soul. Each animal at the barn has a unique story and the volunteers do an amazing job informing the visitors of how the animal was rescued and the progress they have made. Every one should visit this place, it's a truly transformative experience.

This was my first time getting close to a cow and I was a little shy at first but Buttercup was so very sweet she eased my worries. She even nuzzled me with her nose like my dogs do.



This is Buddha, another super sweet girl.


Next we moved on to the upper barn where llamas, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, turkeys and even emus live in harmony together. King the llama was found wandering the desert, thirsty and starving. He was a bit shy but I tried to make friends.





My favorite guy had to be Yoda, the emu. He was so cool and calm and kept falling asleep as we were petting him.



The husband fell in love with Sophie, a goat who was rescued from an abusive petting zoo. Another mellow girl who loves a good neck scratch.


We ended our visit with an awesome vegan hot dog from Frankenstand (which I have been wanting to try for the past 8 months!) and it was delish!



I took so many more pictures, too many to post here, but these captured our experience here today perfectly. If you can't visit The Gentle Barn in person, check out their website where you can read each animal's story, donate and even sponsor a specific animal. It's an amazing organization and every little bit helps!