Rescued Friends Animal Sanctuary - The Bipolar Battle, Inc.

My wife casually asked on Wednesday (right before the Fourth of July) if I’d like to take our son to a rescue sanctuary. She said we needed to RSVP, and we’d visit Rescued Friends Animal Sanctuary on Saturday, July 6. The event of compassion would start at noon and go on until about 3 pm.

Friday night, July 5, it felt like the storm of the season hit us in full force. Parts of Fort Collins had hailed the size of golf balls with damage to cars, windows, and roofs.

Luckily, the event at Rescued Friends Animal Sanctuary was still a go.

Compassion at the Animal Sanctuary

On July 6, 2019, my son, wife and I drove up just north of Fort Collins, Colorado. If you are familiar with the area, the Sanctuary is a few miles north of Colorado State University, or CSU.

We arrived a couple of minutes before noon and the parking area was already packed. I was both intrigued and excited to see what we’d find.

Von, one of the co-founders, greeted us with a big smile and welcome! We signed the customary waivers, made our donations to the jar, and began our journey.

The next couple of hours were extremely enlightening (and still are as I go over the website of Rescued Friends Animal Sanctuary).

Compassion resonated throughout the grounds of the farm. I loved it.

Rescued Friends Animal Sanctuary is a large farm with various-sized enclosures for different farm animals. We saw several pigs, chickens, roosters, hens, goats, alpacas, and cats.

The Sanctuary provides a forever home to abused, neglected, abandoned and unwanted farm animals. I learned the sanctuary does not purchase their animals or breed them. Instead, the animals are brought to the Sanctuary by “donors.”

Unwanted farm animals are found in a variety of ways. For instance, one of the pigs who is now a full-time resident of the Sanctuary was found on Craigslist. His owner was trying to sell him to be butchered. Fortunately, Rescued Friends Animal Sanctuary found him in time. You will find a unique story like this for each animal.

All animals are friends and the sanctuary does everything in their power to treat their friends with both the dignity and respect they deserve. For example, we saw a three-legged goat in one enclosure. My wife inquired about the goat and was told her name was Elle. The Sanctuary spoke with a vet about a prosthetic for Elle. The vet explained Elle does so well on 3 legs that a prosthetic would slow her down and she would be prone to pressure sores.

The Sanctuary’s big Cornish chickens get Cannabidiol (CBD) oil daily to help with inflammation and pain (which they are prone to with their enormous size), and even acupuncture when they have a hard time walking.

Amy is the Sanctuary’s co-founder and an acupuncturist. She utilizes the information regarding acupuncture in humans and transfers it to the animal residents. Also, any chicken that needs specialized care or separation from the others lives with Amy in her onsite trailer until they are ready to go back to a flock.

Plant-Based Vegan Lifestyle

At the end of our time at the sanctuary, we stopped in at the gift shop. Here, I learned more about following and adopting a plant-based vegan lifestyle. They encouraged us to take a sample from the cooler of sausage, cream cheese, bacon, and more. All options were completely vegan. Vegan, meaning no animals or animal byproducts.

I am quite intrigued by the idea of leading a vegan lifestyle based on compassion. Years ago, I adopted a vegetarian lifestyle but did not know enough to maintain it long-term.

For me, I enjoy a minimalistic lifestyle and keeping things simple.

After I arrived home from the fun event, I looked over the website of Rescued Friends Animal Sanctuary.

I found a section about adopting a vegan lifestyle. In it, they suggest 3 main reasons why people transition to a vegan lifestyle. Use one more, or all three, reasons as your driving force to transition to a new lifestyle:

The animals
Your health
Your planet

I have always been concerned about getting the right amount of nutrients and possibly being deficient in something. A useful resource is Vegan For Life, and it answers all your questions regarding a vegan lifestyle.

Living with bipolar disorder, I prioritize my mental and physical health daily. With this newfound information, it looks like I have a few things to think about, right?

To donate to Rescued Friends Animal Sanctuary, CLICK HERE.