Animal Acres Farm Sanctuary

This past weekend, we visited the Animal Acres Farm Sanctuary about a half hour outside of Los Angeles.  My mom has been trying to get us to go for a few months now.  It takes us 1 1/2 hours to get there, so it's not exactly a last minute kind of thing.  We packed a picnic, loaded the bag full of diapers and snacks, and hit the road!

Animal Acres is a sanctuary for the rescue of farm animals that have been abused, neglected, or otherwise improperly treated.  Most of the animals were headed for slaughter when they were rescued and given refuse at the sanctuary.  Even with their severe mistreatment, most of the animals are sweet, personable, loving, and will willingly come up to your for a little pet.  The coolest part is that you actually get to walk through their areas, rather than just looking at them through a fence.  It is not a petting zoo by any means, but you certainly get to do a lot of petting!

Our first animal encounter: a huge, monstrous, terrifying chicken!  Or at least that's how Olive treated it.  She warmed up as we saw more animals.

These pigs were HUGE, I mean like 900 pounds huge.  As you can see, they like to have their bellies rubbed.

My stepdad is getting his shirt eaten by a baby cow.  Uh oh!  And what's with the guy in the background wearing the LEATHER jacket?  I mean, I'm not a vegetarian but if you're going to a place like this, maybe you think twice about the clothes you pick out to wear.  Right?

One of the only animals that we had to pet through a fence was a horse.  This one seemed a little timid, which is probably why we couldn't go in.

This picture does not do the size of this cow justice.  These cows were really large, much more than I expected!

Olive sharing a special moment with a very friendly goat.  She was trying to give it a kiss.

Olive had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow....Well, off-white anyway.  This little lamb's fleece was so, so soft.  Again, notice this girl's arm on the right?  What is with wearing the leather jacket to an animal sanctuary that promotes veganism?!  Ay carumba!

Grandma and Olive observing a chicken.

We had a really nice day there.  We plan on going back in the future as their mix of animals is constantly changing.  If you have a place like this in your area, I highly recommend you go.  It is an eye opening experience.  I am not vegan or vegetarian, but going to a place like this definitely makes you think about where your food comes from.