Free Cats for Farmers

Farmers often have no problem getting “free” cats for their barn, but many do not bother to vaccinate their cats, or to spay or neuter them, as a result they often have more kittens than they need, or have sick cats.

On the other side of the coin there are always cats surrendered to animal shelters that are not suitable for adoption in most homes. Cats who are not using their litter box for behavioral reasons rather than treatable medical ones, are normally euthanized as “unadoptable” by most shelters.

Most of these cats would make suitable barn cats, or good shop cats, and as such many shelters are now trying to saves as many of these cats as they can by offering them up in such a way.

The Edmonton Humane Society is one place that has recently started a “Barn Buddies” program to give these cats a second chance. The cats are free (but donations are always welcome) and come vaccinated, chipped and spayed or neutered. They are also friendly. To note, some shelters do adopt out feral (less friendly) cats to farm homes as well. The Edmonton Humane Society requires interested people to apply with them for this program.

Potential adopters are required to have:

• A barn or building where the cat can find shelter from bad weather.
• Food for the cat. Note that a well fed cat is a better mouser.
• The right attitude to make sure the cat is cared for and receives veterinary attention as needed.

If you are bringing home a new cat to the farm or shop, it should be kept in an enclosed space with food and water for several days to help it bond to the area.

If you are a farmer who could benefit from such a program please contact your local animal shelter to see if they have cats available under such a system.

The information for the Edmonton Humane Society's Barn Buddies program is here.

Seeing Eye Sheep and Seeing Eye Goats for a Blind Horse

Most people are well aware of seeing eye dogs, a dog that guides a blind person. A few people are aware of some seeing eye horses, these being horses that are trained to act as guides for a blind person.

You probably are not aware of seeing eye sheep and goats that act as guides for a blind horse. Apparently a quarter horse mare, named Sissy, has 10 companions who act as seeing eye animals. These consist of sheep and goats who act as guide animals for the 15 year old grey mare (horses can live into their early 20's, but are often sent to slaughter or euthanized in their teens).

The goats and sheep stand between Sissy and the fence to stop her from walking into it, they herd her (presumably with their vocalizations) towards hay, and water, allowing her to feed equally. They even direct her to shelter when it is needed. This all makes perfect sense when one understands that horses, goats, and sheep, are all herd animals. Having a large horse actually helps the smaller animals in coyotes are less likely to attack small animals when a larger (particularly taller) animal is with them.

Sissy and companion seeing eye Goat - photo from Reuters

Sissy and her farmyard pals are currently living in Deer Haven Ranch, a 300 acre rescue and retirement home for unwanted animals located in Montana.

Other Reading

The Full Story

Deer Haven Ranch

Differences Between Sheep and Goats

Adopt a Sheep

When most people think about adoption they only think about cats, or dogs. Maybe they think about exotic animals such as rabbits, but few think about adopting farm animals and livestock.

There are some pet rescues that also offer, or even focus only on, rescuing livestock and farm animals. There are loads of sites for finding farm animals for sale, but few that focus on farm animals, such as sheep, for adoption. One that does have a listing of sheep for adoption is petfinder.com.

My petfinder search showed nearly 30 sheep for adoption, most were rams, or wethers, but there were also lambs, and ewes. All of the adoptable sheep I found where in the USA, but petfinder.com also offers space for animal shelters, and livestock rescue groups, from Canada and Mexico to list their adoptable animals.

I strongly encourage anyone looking for a “Pet” sheep to check out petfinder.com's listing of adoptable sheep.

Below I want to show examples of two of the adoptable sheep from Petfinder.  I hope they get homes soon. 

Visit Hannah's Page on Petfinder here.

Visit Authur's Petfinder page here.

If you are unfamiliar with sheep like Authur, he is a Jacob sheep - noted for their colors and fancy horn growth.