A turn Around Project

At first when I herd we had to go to a farm for class it made me upset because I did not want to go do nothing extra for a class. One of my friends in class told me she was going to Serenity Springs Animal Sanctuary. I decided to tag along with her because I wanted to get it over with and I defiantly had no interest in going but I went because it was for a grade. We left around 10:30 am on a Saturday (April 23rd) and got there at 11:45 am that same day. It was five of us there helping out. My objective of the day was to do what I needed to do for the grade and leave as soon as possible. I hated the fact that I was their and would never of came if it wasn’t for it being a grade and new I would never come unwillingly.

When we got their we met Terry and then went on a tour of the place. We started with the horses then moved on to the donkeys and then to the pigs. She even had pony’s their as well. The tour took about an hour and a half but only because she was telling us a little history about the animals. The more she told us about their history and were she got them and saved them from and the more I seen the animals I started to feel glad about coming. I started to get attached to the horses out of all the animals. I fed a horse a cookie and after that he kept following me trying to get more. At a point I was moving the cookie around in circles and the horse with his head would do circles too. In that very moment when the horse kept following me and made that relationship with me it amazed me and made me realize how beautiful life is even in a horses perspective especially coming from a abused horse. After that moment I was very excited to be their and was glad that I came. I liked the way Thomas Hobbs stated in Lindsey Clarks “Animal Rights” “speech or language is the connection of names constituted by the will of men to stand for the series of conception of the things about which we think. As a name is to an Idea or conception of a thing, so is speech to the discourse of the mind. If some brute animals, taught by practice, gasp what we wish and command in words, they do so not through words as words, but as sign; for animals do not know that words are constituted by the will of men for the purpose of signification ”.(17) what happened in my moment with the horse was explained in that very quote because I did not care what the horse was doing at first because I felt I couldn’t understand what he wanted just because he couldn’t speak. When he showed me with his signs he was giving me it made me realize more of what he wanted and also appreciate the horse more then it just being an animal. If animals could talk I think we could appreciate them more and also have more respect for them then what people do now and wouldn’t treat them the way people do.

After the tour we racked some leaves for her and then went and helped Terry feed the animals. I was doing most of the work for Terry by feeding the animals since we were their I wanted to be at the most help I could be to her so she could have a day off basically. We fed the horses and the donkeys first then went on feeding the pigs. The more I stayed their helping and feeding the animals the more I wanted to stay! Their were these blind horses I was feeding and it made me a little upset because the horse had to rely on his other senses to find the food we gave him all because some people back then felt they wanted to abuse the horse were it cant see no more just for their pleasure. It made me realize that even as a animal it still suffers like a human. it feels pain just like us and even gets happy just like us. “there may be many differences between humans and animals, there is at least one important similarity that we all already recognize: our shared capacity to suffer. In this sense, humans and animals are similar to each other and different from everything else in the universe that is not sentient"(121 Property or Persons).”

After we were done their and ready to go I realized that the whole trip their was a very big success and also opened my eyes in animal abuse about knowing the deep impact of it more then what I used too. I was glad I came and I love what Terry is doing with the animals in trying to help them. I’m actually coming back (willingly) next month to come and help terry again with the animals and she also told me that next time I come back I can ride one of the horses!