Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary

04/02/2021

This sweet little goat was abandoned and living in a remote area on the C & O Canal near Williamsport MD for many months- locals say they have seen the goat for more than a year. Animal control was unable to help, but kind citizens would bring food to the little goat frequently, and check on him. Unfortunately, not everyone was so kind - one hiker admitted he sprayed him with pepper spray because he thought the goat would “attack” him, when he was just looking for food! Thankfully a hero named Jake, who lives in Chicago, but was doing a Pittsburgh to DC bike ride on the towpath, saw the little goat, fed him some of his snacks, and vowed to come back in a few days and rescue him. When Jake contacted us we immediately said we would give him a wonderful home if he could manage to catch him. Miraculously 3 days later, Jake went back to the area he had seen the goat and managed to get a collar and leash on him. The little goat was terrified and would not lead so Jake had to walk/carry him 2 miles to the nearest parking area, where he had left his borrowed SUV. He then drove over an hour to Poplar, where Jake the goat (named after his rescuer!) is now safe and warm in our barn, and enjoying lots of delicious hay. We will give him a thorough vet check, but other than being very thin ( and un-neutered! ) he seems amazingly healthy. After he heals from his neuter surgery he will be able to run and play with lots of rescued goat friends, and will always have shelter and all the hay and feed he needs. He is already slowly starting to trust us, and will take cookies from our hands. We love him so much already!❤️🐐(Thanks to Emily Benedict for the video and photo)

03/30/2021

https://www.classy.org/event/poplar-spring-animal-sanctuary-virtual-run-for-the-animals/e324470

Poplar Spring’s annual Run for the Animals will be a virtual event again this year, to raise funds to continue to care for our over 250 rescued residents. For more than a year we have been unable to have tours or events at the sanctuary, due to Covid, so we are hoping to raise much needed funds with this Fun Walk or 5K Run, which you can now do from anywhere in the world! Please help us to meet our goal- we are almost halfway there! A HUGE thanks to Team Poplar’s Peeps, formed by Poplar staff and volunteers, who are crushing their fundraising goal!! All participants will receive a beautiful logo medal! Thank you from all of us at Poplar and from all of the animals!🙂❤️🐐🐂🐑🐖🦃🐓🦚

03/28/2021

Happy 3rd Birthday to Justin!❤️

Happy Birthday to our handsome boy, Justin, who turns two years old today! Justin’s mom Maisie was rescued from a dairy farm that was closing down, and she surprised us by giving birth a few months after she arrived. She was a wonderful mother right from the start and has been inseparable from her “baby” for the last two years. Justin has grown into such a big healthy boy, even though he was very sick when he was born, and had to be hospitalized for over a week. Maisie, who had all of her previous babies taken from her at the dairy farm, was so worried we would take Justin too. You can see the concern on her face in the third photo taken the day he was born (thanks to Maureen McGowan for capturing this tender moment) and she has been so incredibly happy to be with Justin every day. Thankfully, they will be able to spend their entire lives together, happy and free, the way it should be for all cows.❤️🐂

03/28/2021

The chickens and turkeys were really enjoying scratching and pecking in the woods today!

03/25/2021

It seems that just about every barn at Poplar Spring has its own tame groundhog living underneath it! This adorable one came popping up out of a hole under the Red Barn, where we keep a few of our older chickens, and ran right up to me for a treat! I couldn’t find anything to give them except carrot chips, but I think he or she liked them!❤️🙂

03/22/2021

Edward the peacock is enjoying this beautiful Spring day by sunning himself in a patch of Daffodils.❤️🦚

03/21/2021

Nigel, who is one of our oldest goats, was enjoying the nice warm sunny day by burying himself in a pile of hay while we were cleaning the barn yesterday.🙂❤️🐐

03/12/2021

Yesterday was Grayson’s 2nd birthday! He was born here at the sanctuary just days after his pregnant mother Maple arrived. Rescued from a farm where she had been scheduled to be slaughtered, Maple was so happy to be able to care for one of her babies for the first time in her life. She has been a wonderful, attentive mother to Grayson. These two are so bonded - even though he is now taller than his mom, Grayson still loves being groomed and nurtured by her. Many farmers say that dairy cows have lost their maternal instincts and don’t care when their calves are taken from them- Maple and Grayson’s sweet relationship is proof that this just isn’t true. It is so wonderful that they will now be able to live their whole lives together as a close and loving cow family.❤️🐂

03/09/2021

The happiest sign that Spring is almost here- Shirley the groundhog emerged from her hole under the sheep barn for the first time this year! She is just as friendly and tame as ever, and is even still a little pudgy, which is surprising given her long hibernation. Maybe she she hid a few extra cookies down there!🙂 We missed you Shirley, it’s so great to see you again!❤️ (Thanks to Karen Blass for this cute video)

02/28/2021

Hannah is wondering if it will ever stop raining.🌧☔️

02/27/2021

Nelson looks like he is affectionately grooming his buddy Jasper, but really he is just snacking on all the little bits of hay that are stuck in Jasper’s wool!😂❤️🐑

02/25/2021

Franklin is a very friendly goose who was recently found abandoned in a residential neighborhood in Maryland. Residents had seen him for days following people walking their dogs, and not seeming to know where he was or what to do, as someone had obviously just dumped him there. He is a domestic goose and cannot fly, so he had nowhere to go. When some kind neighbors saw him standing forlornly in the middle of the road in a freezing rain, they managed to catch him and put him in a dog crate, and brought him to Poplar Spring. He has been in a stall in the barn here for two weeks, and today is his first day out and about on the farm. He was afraid of the other geese and ran away from them. He did go for a dip in the pond, but only stayed for a minute. We then offered him a small water tub, which he very happily took a bath in. So we will offer him both and he will have the best of both worlds - hopefully he will watch the other geese and learn from them. He is super sweet - he loves to be held and climbs up in people’s laps!❤️

02/21/2021

Chloe (with the red collar), who was found wandering in a neighborhood with electric wire tied around her neck, was finally released from quarantine! She was so happy to meet the other goats for the first time. When she arrived she was severely emaciated and had many parasites. After months of treatment and TLC, she is now happy and healthy. (She was butted and jostled a little, but that is how goats introduce themselves😂) ❤️🐐

02/14/2021

Photos from Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary's post

Happy Valentine’s Day!💕 At Poplar Spring we have an unusual love story that occurred with two animals just recently rescued. Holly is one of five sweet hens who arrived two weeks ago - they were saved from an egg farm where hens that are “older” (in this case only 1 1/2 years old!) are routinely slaughtered and replaced with younger hens who will lay more eggs. Thankfully the awesome PJ McKosky convinced the farmer to allow sanctuaries to take some of the hens, and helped to find them wonderful new homes. Holly was one of the 5 hens we received, and she was very emaciated and weak on arrival, and could not even eat on her own. She has been living in the house with us where she can be treated and monitored and stay nice and warm. During this same time a wild starling crashed into one of the windows in our horse barn, and was unable to fly due to head trauma. We have been keeping him in a crate in the house also while he recovers, and we named him Walt. Happily both Holly and Walt are slowly getting stronger and healthier every day. After 10 days of needing to be tube fed, Holly is finally eating on her own, and Walt is slowly relearning how to walk and fly. Walt also learned how to squeeze out of his crate and decided that he is in love with Holly! He likes to eat with her out of her food bowl and even sometimes cuddles up and sleeps with her in her crate.❤️ She sometimes pecks him when he gets annoying but she also makes happy chirping noises to greet him when he comes out to join her. We think the unusual friendship these two have formed is helping both of them recover more quickly. It just proves to us that love and companionship are very powerful for healing and for happiness, in all species. We hope everyone has a great Valentine’s Day!❤️

02/13/2021

The goats and sheep decided to have a spontaneous ‘hay party’, despite the sleet and freezing rain. Of course Nate had to be on the top.🙂🐐

02/12/2021

Evie says, Smile, it’s Friday!😊🐐❤️

02/10/2021

A HUGE thanks to @SafewayFoundation for giving such an AMAZING donation for the animals at Poplar Spring!! Safeway annually awards grants to non profit organizations in the community through their We Care program, and this year they very generously contributed $3,500. for hay, feed and vet care for all the rescued animals!! Special thanks to longtime supporter Janice Hill, manager at the Goshen Rd. Safeway, who sponsored Poplar for this incredible gift! 🙂❤️🦃🐖🐐🐑🐂🐓
#SafewayFoundation

02/09/2021

All the goats were jealous of Malcolm’s new Rambo jacket, donated by @allaboutequestrian who very kindly donated many sample horse jackets that fit our largest goats nicely! With all this Winter weather we’ve really needed to layer up some of the older and more cold sensitive goats- thanks to awesome volunteers Paula Jean Ciskowski who hand made beautiful sweaters with “Loved” and hearts on them for Heather, Yeti and Phoebe, and Maureen McGowan, who donated Evie’s gorgeous purple and orange sweaters, which she loves.❤️ #goatsincoats

02/03/2021

A three day snow event is very unusual for this area, but most of the animals have nice Winter coats and are taking it in stride. Hopefully it will all melt soon so the chickens and turkeys (who don’t like to get their feet wet) can come back out of their barns. In the meantime they have nice indoor areas to scratch and peck in.

02/01/2021

Griffin and Spencer the alpacas were rescued together a few years ago from a starvation case in PA. They are now healthy and happy and are mostly BFF’s, but still have the occasional goofy disagreement over seemingly nothing. It’s usually over in about 1 minute and then they go on about their day as if nothing ever happened. Love Spencer’s little kick at the end, lol!

01/31/2021

Happy Snow Day!🙂❄️All the piggies woke up to a Winter Wonderland this morning. They don’t mind sharing their breakfast with the (very noisy!) geese.❤️🐖

01/30/2021

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pre-tax-comedy-fundraiser-encore-show-tickets-138887429039

Thank you so much to everyone who purchased tickets to the comedy Fundraiser coming up this Thursday February 4 at 7 pm! The event sold out at 100 tickets so they have very graciously agreed to do a second show following at 8:15, so we can raise even more money for the animals! If you haven’t already signed up, please join us for a fun evening with lots of laughs and help us to raise much needed funds for all the rescued animals!! A big thanks to our awesome accountant Ken Watter and friend Irwin Loring for organizing this!!

01/26/2021

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pre-tax-comedy-fundraiser-tickets-134906383625

Please help us to help the animals at Poplar Spring by purchasing a ticket to this virtual Comedy Fundraiser next week! Only $10! Enjoy a fun evening with some great comedians and help us to raise much needed funds for the rescued animals at the same time. Please share- 40 tickets have been sold, we are trying hard to make it to 100 for the animals- thank you for your support! ❤️🐐🐂🐖🐑🦃🐓

01/24/2021

Yeti and Evie like to have a little late afternoon play fight on the porch before they go to bed.❤️🐐

01/18/2021

Photos from Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary's post

Our new turkey boy Chauncey, who was found running loose in an inner city Baltimore neighborhood, was finally released from quarantine on Thursday. He was so excited to meet his new turkey girlfriends Talullah, Madison and Willow, and immediately puffed up and began strutting around! They were a little shy at first, but after a few days of getting to know each other they are now all one big happy family. ❤️🦃

01/16/2021

This sweet but terrified goat, who we named Chloe, was found running loose in a neighborhood in Silver Spring with electrical wire wrapped tightly around her neck. It appeared as though she had chewed through the wire to escape whatever terrible situation she had been in. Thankfully Montgomery County Animal Services was able to catch her and bring her to Poplar Spring. She is still very nervous especially around men, but we know she will soon begin to trust us, and she will have a wonderful life here, with lots of rescued goatie friends! (Photo by Maureen McGowan)

01/12/2021

A Huge thanks to our awesome accountant, Ken Watter (who also happens to be a great comedian!), and our friend and also great comedian Irwin Loring, for hosting and organizing this virtual Comedy Fundraiser to benefit the animals at Poplar Spring! As we have been unable to have visitors at the sanctuary for the past year due to Covid, we were thrilled to learn of this special event, which you can attend from home. It's easy and inexpensive (only $10. plus a small fee per ticket!) and you can enjoy lots of laughs and fun while helping the rescued animals too! Please register, and share with friends to help us raise much needed funds for our over 250 rescued residents. The event is Thursday night February 4, 2021 at 7 p.m. More details and purchase tickets here:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pre-tax-comedy-fundraiser-tickets-134906383625
Thanks for helping us to help the animals!

01/02/2021

It’s a Happy New Year for Chauncey, a very handsome Royal Palm turkey who was found Christmas Day on a residential street in West Baltimore! We don’t know for sure where this sweet boy came from, but there are several slaughterhouses in Baltimore that other animals have escaped from. Thankfully, Chauncey was captured by the kind neighbors who saw him walking on the busy streets, and didn’t want to see him get hit by a car or injured by a dog. Volunteer Mike French filmed the story for a WBAL, a Baltimore news station, and then transported Chauncey to Poplar Spring, where he will be able to live happily for the rest of his life with our other rescued turkeys and chickens. We can’t wait to introduce him as soon as his quarantine period is up. A huge thanks to the compassionate residents of West Baltimore who saved him, and to Mike French for housing Chauncey overnight and making sure he arrived here safely. We love him so much already!🦃❤️

https://www.wbaltv.com/amp/article/residents-capture-turkey-found-wandering-in-west-baltimore/35072978

12/26/2020

Happy Holidays from everyone at Poplar Spring! Yesterday was a long, freezing cold (and slightly snowy!) day but we celebrated with the animals by feeding lots of special treats- the goats and sheep enjoyed boxes of special hay and popcorn, the pigs received apples and pumpkins and the chickens and turkeys loved the grapes and corn. Thanks to our awesome volunteers and staff who came out to help on this very cold and windy day! We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season! (A big thanks to @markp.photo for the cute sheepie photo!)❤️🎄❄️🐐🐂🦃🐓🐖🐑

12/20/2020

Jazzy (left) and Paisley are two gorgeous Polish crested hens that we took in a few days ago. Their former caretaker was moving to a place that wouldn’t allow chickens. They were so scared at first and Paisley was basically blind because her feathers were completely covering her eyes. We trimmed her head feathers so she can see, and now they are both happy and calmer and eating treats from our hands. We love them so much already- welcome to Poplar, beautiful girls, you will have a wonderful life here!❤️❤️🐓

12/17/2020

Yeti is ready for the cold and snow with his new little pink coat.❤️🐐

12/17/2020

The cows are completely unfazed by the snow. 🙂❄️☃️🐂

12/15/2020

Malcolm really enjoys being groomed by Mina, and especially loves having his beard brushed.🙂❤️🐐

12/12/2020

Evie and Yeti love to play together- they can do anything a 4 legged goat can do.💪Sometimes Dudley gets a little jealous and has to butt in.🙂🐐❤️

11/30/2020

Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary 2021

Poplar Spring’s 2021 calendar of rescued animals is on sale! Save 30% by using code BFCM30 through the end of today (November 30) only. These calendars make great holiday gifts for all your family and friends, and help the animals too!

https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/deb-durant/poplar-spring-animal-sanctuary-2021/paperback/product-6j8mre.html

This calendar describes just a few of the 250+ residents of Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, a non-profit that provides the care, rehabilitation, and permanent sanctuary for neglected, abused or abandoned farm animals, as well as providing a protected habitat for wildlife. Poplar Spring promotes comp...