On a rural road on the hills of upper Roberts Creek is a six-acre farm unlike any on the Sunshine Coast.
A pig named Whitney is best friends with a “street cow” named Beyoncé. A horse named Gus with a milky, blind eye munches hay with sheep to be sheared, but never slaughtered.
About 50 domesticated animals live at the Kitchensink Rescue Farm and Sanctuary, a registered non-profit seeking charity status and which has been growing steadily for nearly two decades.
“It slowly builds and becomes your normal,” said Yvonne Lewis, a paramedic who operates the farm with her husband, Mike, who works in the construction industry.
While demand and costs are as high as ever – on Aug. 27 they announced nine new pigs were arriving – COVID-19 has put a damper on the organization’s fundraising efforts.
Plans for a B.C.-wide open house with other farm sanctuaries have been put on hold because of COVID-19, and the couple were also forced to cancel an inaugural gala dinner and silent auction they’d hoped would attract larger corporate donors.
“It’s definitely been harder,” said Yvonne. “We were really hoping to be able to do a lot [with] the gala, hoping to invite businesses, owners of businesses and possibly be on their donation roster.”
The organization is looking to raise up to $60,000 for a new barn and $6,000 for another well – both needed as they continue expanding. The two structures on their property have already been modified to fit three horses, sheep, goats, pigs and their cow. “We need to build a new barn. We don’t have the stall space at this point to take that much more in,” Yvonne told Coast Reporter.
Animals arrive for a variety of reasons. Some are neglected or abandoned farm animals. Some suffered health issues, and were no longer considered productive. Others – including several not-so-mini pigs – are surrendered pets. “There’s a huge problem with pigs, a huge problem with roosters,” said Yvonne.
The day Coast Reporter visited the farm, roosters abandoned in Coast forests picked through grass while nearby a 500-lb. pig named Petunia lounged in the shade, her days as a laboratory test subject far behind.
Despite operating on the Coast for years, Kitchensink isn’t as widely known by the general public compared with other animal welfare organizations, such as the Gibsons Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.
Farm sanctuaries also fill a different niche. SPCA doesn’t have the capacity to accommodate large livestock, for example, and while some abandoned roosters may turn up in forests, they aren’t wildlife.
Sarien Slabbert of PEACE (People Ensuring Animal Care Exists), a Lower Mainland non-profit that coordinates animal sanctuaries in Western Canada, says farm animal sanctuaries are more popular now as awareness grows about the impact some types of agriculture have on animals and the environment. Most in Canada are less than 10 years old. They also aren’t regulated.
Slabbert sees her organization as establishing “neutral ground” for animal welfare activists including vegans and farmers who raise animals for food. She said it can be difficult to build relationships with farmers, and she keeps them confidential to prevent backlash.
On the Sunshine Coast, small-scale livestock producer and Sunshine Coast Farmers Institute president Raquel Kolof says she wasn’t aware of any B.C. working farms that have given livestock to sanctuaries.
For Kolof, “industrial centralized agriculture” is the biggest threat to animals. “Our local farm sanctuary does great work and is commendable,” she said in an email to Coast Reporter, “but farm sanctuaries are not going to make a dent in transforming our broken food system.”
She also said there are other options available to farmers or hobbyists. The Farmers Institute, for example, can help rehome livestock or find butchers to slaughter animals for the food bank for free.
As with Slabbert, Yvonne and Mike Lewis are vegan, so for them, sanctuaries remain the only option.
And, they say, sanctuaries afford the public an opportunity to reconsider the worth of animals as ends in themselves. To that end – and to fundraise for their expansion plans – the Lewises will be holding smaller events at Kitchensink until public health restrictions ease.
“I think a lot of farm sanctuaries, we want to put that awareness out there,” Yvonne told Coast Reporter.
“There is a huge shift and change and how people feel about their food… The dairy industry has declined in sales… A lot of people are being more aware… I’m not here to make people feel bad, but I want them to realize these guys are creatures and they deserve a shot at having a happy life.”
More information about the farm and events can be found here: https://www.kitchensinkrescue.com/
