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From Animal Farmer to Rescuer: Cheri Vandersluis of Maple Farm Sanctuary -P1/2
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I'm Cheri Ezell-Vandersluis,
my husband Jim and I
reside here in Mendon,
Massachusetts
in the United States
at Maple Farm Sanctuary
and we take care of more
than 100 rescued animals
that have either been
abused, abandoned
or unwanted.
And we also try
to teach people about
a non-violent vegan way
of life.
Gracious viewers,
welcome to
Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
Today’s show features
the elevating story of
vegans Jim Vandersluis,
and Cheri Ezell-Vandersluis,
and their love-filled
Maple Farm Sanctuary,
a caring refuge for animals
since 1998.
The Vandersluis family
practiced dairy farming
for many years
on the very same
48 hectare plot of land
on which the Sanctuary
is now located.
Like all dairies,
the operation
repeatedly cycled through
the heartless processes
that are associated with
meat and milk production.
My husband is a third
generation dairy farmer
and the property
that we reside on
was owned by his father
and his uncle.
And there’s
a lot of history here.
Many, many cows
went through these doors
giving their babies,
their milk and their lives.
After meeting each other,
Cheri joined
her goat milking business
with Jim’s dairy farm.
Deep within both felt
a profound connection
with animals, but at the time
blocked this love
in their hearts
because their actions
were leading to the deaths
of goats and cows.
My grandparents
came from a farm family
in Canada.
So I learned
at a very early age
about dairy farming
and the consequences
to the animals,
but being very young,
I simply became
conditioned to the fact
that milk and meat
came from these animals
and the disconnect
came very quickly
even though I loved animals.
I always had a dog.
I always would be
picking up stray animals
and nursing them
back to health.
So animals were always
a part of my life.
Jim always told me
how much he loved the cows.
But again there was that
disconnect in the process
where you can't become
close to these animals,
because ultimately
they are sent to death
one way or another.
We raised the animals
humanely;
we loved these animals.
You talk about
humane farming,
we were about as humane
as you could get, but
once that throat is sliced,
it’s not humane.
It’s cruel, it’s painful;
they’re full of fear.
Cows are very serene
and giving animals.
Mothers develop
a lifelong bond
with their calves
and will do their utmost
to protect their young.
However on dairy farms,
they never get a chance
to be with their offspring
as the babies are
immediately taken away.
She gives birth
and the moment
she's given birth,
the calf is taken away
from her which is
a very sad moment
because the mother
will call for her calf
for up to two weeks
and the baby
will call for her mother
for quite awhile.
That's how they bond;
they call to one another.
The moment
the baby hits the ground,
then the mother knows
it's there.
They begin
talking to one another
and they bond.
The grass grazing goats
are peace-loving animals
known for their
intelligence and love
of companionship.
Baby goats are
called “kids” and are
very trusting and playful.
A kid is very close
to their mother
and loves to try and leap
onto their mom’s back.
Cheri and Jim
raised the kids
like their own children
and struggled
within themselves
when selling
the baby goats for meat.
The moment we put
the goat in the sling
to be weighed,
the baby would look at me
and the eyes
would just tell me that
I was betraying them.
And the scale was one thing.
We’d weigh them
and then we’d take them
out off the scale and then
I’d lay them down
on their side
and then the customer
would hog tie them.
The moment they
started to be hog tied,
they would look into my eyes
and start to cry.
And you could see the fear
and the mistrust and
the questioning, it’s like,
“What are you
doing to me?”
I’d let them
take the baby goats
and I would start to cry
sometimes and
I’d have to walk away.
The first few times
we watched the customers
simply pick them up
like a piece of luggage
and throw them
into the back of their truck
or throw them
into the trunk of their car
and slam the trunk shut
and I could hear
the babies crying.
One day,
Jim and I got to the point
where we were standing
at the gate where
the goats would leave and
we had just hugged tight
a couple of our little babies
that weighed
about 30 pounds
and they're going off for
someone's Easter dinner.
And they were crying
in the trunk of the car
being driven away
and Jim and I
looked at each other
with tears in our eyes.
And almost
simultaneously we said,
"I can't do this anymore."
And it was our epiphany
and it was then that
we began our journey of
"How do we
stop farming animals
and how do we
start helping animals?"
After this brief pause,
we will have more
from our interview with
Cheri Ezell-Vandersluis.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
We've had a few rescues
where they were
female goats
and they came pregnant
and I got to deliver
some babies again.
There's nothing like
having the babies delivered
and letting them stay
on their mum and seeing
that relationship grow
Welcome back to
Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
Today’s show features
the uplifting story
of the peaceful
Maple Farm Sanctuary
in Massachusetts, USA.
With their compassion
awakened,
Cheri Ezell-Vandersluis
and Jim Vandersluis
wished to end
their involvement
in animal agriculture.
During the first stage
of the transition process
in turning the farm
into a sanctuary,
the couple was unable to
care for all the goats
on the farm at the time,
but luckily, with
the assistance of several
local animal sanctuaries,
they found a solution.
I called an animal rights
organization
and I told them
what we were doing and
he said “Don’t worry,
you’re doing
the right thing,”
and they give me a list
of animal sanctuaries.
And I found Omani Farm
Animal Sanctuary
in Pennsylvania (USA)
and they said
that they would take
half of our goats.
That eased
our financial burden
because it still cost money
to support the goats but
we wanted to keep some,
but not farm them.
So they came up one day
with a rented trailer and
I had my list of the goats,
because
I had family groups,
they’re all in family groups
and they came up
and they took
various family groups
and they went down
to Pennsylvania (USA)
and the rest stayed here.
And that was tough also,
but at least I knew they
were going to a good home.
As a result of a profound
transformation
of consciousness,
the couple also made a
complete lifestyle change,
which included a new diet.
The emotional transition
in the beginning
was very rocky.
And I guess
it was because of
what we did already do.
And then that reflected
on what we wanted to do
to make things better.
And reflecting on all that,
we saw how violent
everything was.
There’s so much violence
in getting food to our table,
and we wanted to live
a non-violent lifestyle
and so there was
that emotion of wanting
to be non-violent.
It was in our heart;
it seemed to come naturally.
And we felt that
eating vegan was so right;
it was non-violent,
it helped the animals, and
it helped people’s health.
You don’t need the drugs
that they seem
to hand out left and right
to bring your
cholesterol down and
your blood pressure down.
You just eat vegan
and you don’t need
that medication.
You don’t need the stents
and you don’t need
the bypass surgery.
And it was coming to
all of those realizations
that just helped us
finally settle down
into this lifestyle and
that’s what we try to teach.
Now let us meet some of
the lovely residents of
this tranquil animal refuge!
This is Little Bet,
a lamb that we rescued
that came from a farm
that just had triplets,
and one was very weak
and they were going to
just let her die.
So I asked
if I could take her,
and the same
with the two little goats.
They had been born
a week before Little Bet
and they too
were very weak.
So we asked them
if we could take them
and raise them up
because again they were
going to be left to die and
we were lucky enough
to get them and
we kept them in the house
and now they’re growing up
and doing quite well.
The two llamas,
Milkweed and Pago were
going to go to slaughter
and we rescued them,
and they have been shorn,
that’s why they have
such short coats.
And Dragon was rescued
from slaughter,
and the Jersey cow
over there Habibi,
I bottle raised Habibi
and now she’s
living out her life here
and not worrying about
going to production.
These ducks,
the original duck is
Cuddles which is the one
with the most orange bill
and he was actually
purchased at a fair
as a duckling.
And the people couldn’t
care for him anymore
so they brought him here.
He was very in tune
with people;
he didn’t really know
he was a duck
and we went and we
rescued two female ducks
for him to have
as companions.
And when they came,
they knew they were ducks
and they were
chasing after him
just to be with him.
But he didn’t know
he was a duck and
he was scared to death
to be with these two ducks,
but now he’s quite devoted,
and he’s adjusted and
now they’re very happy.
They wander
around the farm
during the day and they
come in the chicken door
in the barn at night
and sleep in the barn.
We sincerely appreciate
Cheri Vandersluis’s sharing
the wonderful story
of her leaving
animal agriculture
and bringing joy and love
to the world
through caring for animals.
Vibrant viewers,
please join us again
tomorrow for
the second and final part
of our uplifting talk
with Cheri Vandersluis
on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
For more information on
the Maple Farm Sanctuary,
please visit:
Thank you for joining us
today for our program.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
May the entire world
be awakened now
and quickly adopt
the compassionate,
life-affirming
organic vegan lifestyle.
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