If you have not yet met her, we want to introduce you to Adele Donkey, born May 2010. Our Star Donkey lived here with a Welsh Pony named Gracie until March of 2020 when Gracie passed away. We wanted Star Donkey to have a chance to "talk donkey" and live with a rescue buddy who was like her! At the start of the pandemic, Adele was surrendered by her owner to Save Your Ass Longear Rescue of NH. She was a donkey who got along with every size donkey and she seemed like a good fit

The Sanctuary has been in the feel-good news this month with two segments we are delighted to watch! WCVB 5 Chronicle was out to film in August for a show on fun activities in the Boston area $10 and Under. When you watch the segment, catch the fun aerial views too. What a great tour group that day as well, with perfect weather. We were delighted that our mission to share kindness and compassion was front and center. Watch here! Another great vibes segment was aired from NBC1

The years have truly passed in the blink of an eye it seems. Our beautiful Welsh Pony, Sweetie, has been with us since 2017, and she will be 30 years old this December. We have been working closely with our vet team at Ocean State Equine because she has not kept up her weight the past 6 months. Her teeth have been checked out as healthy, and her senior food has been increased. Blood work followups will happen next week. And recently we discovered she is not getting REM or dee

This month we want to share our love for this bovine beauty: Audrey Heifer! Did you know she has a black/purple tongue? (so does Pal McTrouble) Audrey is a special Jersey gal in many ways, but one unusual thing that sets her apart is that she is a 'freemartin'. A very high percentage of bovine twins where one is male and one is female results in sterility. Audrey lacks a full ovarian structure and cannot be bred or have a calf. This does not stop her from being motherly thoug

In the Sanctuary setting, we experience young and old surrenders, and sick or well rescues. We know there are things we can’t control - their past. But we can do the best we can with their future. We accept that may not mean a long life ahead for the very sick surrenders. In our decade of rescue, we have had very elderly sheep, disabled sick birds, very sick calves with no immune system developed, a very old Palomino horse with EPM disease and one particularly notable horse w

The fireflies, the Great Horned Owls, the frogs, the bats, and the bluebirds all tell a story at the Sanctuary. The story is of a space with minimal land disturbance, minimal environmental poisons and minimal light pollution. Generally, fireflies take two to three years to become the magical flitting lights in the evening. Of course they are not lighting up just for you or me! To mature below ground they need to be undisturbed there for at least a summer season between their

We never know what each day at the Sanctuary might bring! In the cold January month of 2025, 'Spotty Dogs Hiking' was walking dogs on a trail in Sherborn. She saw a golden rooster lingering there at the trailhead in the sub-freezing temperatures. I saw her social media post that evening, and neither she nor I slept well, knowing he was there. The next morning, Animal Caregiver Emma and I went to the trailhead with a little 'puppy pen' fencing to help corral him so we could ca

When you think of the word community, perhaps you think of the folks living in your apartment building or on your street. Maybe a bigger community of your town or neighborhood is your ideal? Or could community be the people you meet virtually with some common ground of belief or actions? At Unity Farm Sanctuary, we try to build as many aspects of healthy community as we can. We feel that we are stronger together than we are apart. Community could be a love of the natural worl

The Sanctuary today represented everything we hope to accomplish. 🙏 Volunteers from all parts of the community were here: high school interns; young adults part of life-skills learning groups; veterans and active duty leaders; individual community members; and a group of graduating seniors completing a significant community service projects of 50 hours each. A large preschool program from a neighboring town came for tours and humane education programs, with a lot of joy spre

Each day in the life of the Sanctuary brings something new, often very unexpected. A young farm pig, likely between 5-8 months of age, was poorly confined on land occupied by a non-paying resident. The owner of the land had passed away, and the executor of the estate discovered that this pig was on the land The executor personally witnessed excessive physical mistreatment of the pig that escaped the make-shift pen.🥺 All of that description sounds so clean and tidy. In realit

Volunteer Jean has little DW falling asleep in her arms. The Sanctuary is almost 10 years old! December 15, 2026 is the start of our 10th Anniversary and we are excited to share this milestone with our community. Founded by John and Kathy Halamka in 2016, this special place was designed to go on in perpetuity with the establishment of an endowment, and the team that will keep this shining long after the founders have passed (in hopefully the very far off future!) To read mor

At Nirvana Tea House and Cafe, September 2024 I had a haircut this week and my barber said that my hair is changing. I'm not losing hair (beyond the same frontal pattern my father had in his 60's), but my hair is becoming thinner and drier as I age. I will turn 64 in a few months and can feel the subtle changes of aging as I approach the transition from mid-life to senior. What does aging mean to me? I tell people that becoming a parent is no better nor worse than a childles

Nanah Goat just finished driving her motorcycle to Cornell's Vet Hospital, where she is checking in for her SPA treatment. Oh, wait, I think they said SPAY treatment? Nanah Goat in her cool shades Ok, she did NOT drive herself. Nanah Goat took a trip to Cornell with Shelter Manager Tye and his wife Ann, (our Administrative miracle worker and Store Manager) for an important medical issue. This is a pre-planned trip, not an emergency. Nanah has some persistent issues that began

This was a heavy week: we recently lay Penny Blossom to rest with her skin cancer treatment coming to the end. Sweet elderly Eddie Goat, and his functional breathing issues came to a conclusion this week as well, as he was laid to rest with the kindness of the team at Tufts Veterinary Hospital.. I am going to describe a thought I had today. Perhaps it is a heavy week because we are catching the heaviness as is slips away from some beloved rescues. They were ready to take flig

The goal in our own kitchens or in a food establishment is good food. Sometimes the corollaries are: affordable food, on-the-go food, or exotic food, but everything still boils down to.... good food. (For us at the Sanctuary, our vision of good food is compassionate and free of animal based products as well) We have embraced this journey of purchasing and re-opening the recently closed Nirvana Tea House and Cafe in Millis MA. We hope to re-open in the next 30 days! Yesterday