Where a pig can be a pig
(logo art by Eve Ujhelyi)
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| Donations appreciated
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 | Kandy is the little pig seized by the Polk County Sheriff and living at Out to Pasture. Although many of you asked about her history, we were not allowed to discuss the case pending legal action against the previous caretaker. The previous caretaker has now officially surrendered her to Out to Pasture and is facing facing charges of animal abuse and neglect. According to the Sheriff, animals were left to starve on the property and
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| many died. The little pig survived by eating dead rabbits and was one of the lucky ones to make it out alive. We welcome Kandy to the herd at Out to Pasture!
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| OTP Benefit at Food Fight Grocery
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| 10% of all in-store sales on New Year's Eve will be donated to OTP! Please support Food Fight Grocery all year long but especially on this day. Help them clear the shelves for less inventory to count on January 1st. Food Fight is located at 1217 SE Stark Street in Portland 97214 and is open 10 am to 8 pm. The store is all vegan so no need to read the labels! Thank you Food Fight! |
| (PS -Be sure to check out the Out to Pasture photo magnets and pick up your favorite farm animal faces to adorn your refrigerator! Click images (below) for larger view.) |
| November 13 work party follow-up
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| Our November work party was blessed with both mild weather and many volunteers including members of the Roots and Shoots Club of Portland. The mountains of cedar shavings and sawdust made their way into the horse shelters and Blueberry patch thanks to many little hands carrying bucket after bucketful. Other volunteers attached wire to the cattle panel fences to prevent the llamas Coco and Limo from sticking their heads through the fence and getting stuck. Manure got picked up and more chicken wire was added to the rooster pens for extra protection from predators. We all got muddy but had a good time knowing we were making Out to Pasture a better place for our animal friends. Thanks to everyone who came out to lend a hand! |
| Help Raise the Roof for Winter at OTP!
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| Help us raise the roof for winter! We just kicked off our fund drive to raise $4,000 for winter essentials: materials to replace the leaky stall roof, $400; one ton of Eastern Oregon Orchard hay, $400; cedar chips for mud control in the pig pen and pasture, $350; materials to expand the rooster pen, $350; emergency vet fund (we hope will not be needed), $2500. Your help is much appreciated. |
| Next work party Sunday November 13
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| Our next visiting and volunteer day will be Sunday November 13th with a tour for new folks at 1:00 and the work party from 1:30 to 4:30. There will be something for everyone with chores ranging from stall cleaning, water bucket scrubbing, blackberry clipping to sawdust hauling and more. Be sure to wear rubber boots, gloves and be ready to get dirty! Vegan snacks and good company provided. Contact Kit at kit.collins@gmail.com for more information or for directions. Hope to see you there! |
| Much thanks to everyone who volunteered for the October 22 work party. More here. |
| Want to hear some good music and help animals at the same time? Then be sure to attend the benefit show for Out to Pasture at Kelly's Olympian (426 SW Washington St. in Portland) on Friday October 28th. Bands include Houndstooth, The Four Edge and Swim Swam Swum. Show is at 8:00 pm with a suggested donation of $5. Ages 21 and over. Hope you can make it! If you have questions about the event contact Kit at kit.collins@gmail.com. |
| October work party announcement
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| Winter is coming and there is a lot to get done! Our next visiting/volunteer day will be Saturday October 22 with a tour for new folks at 1:00. Our work party will go from 1:30 to 4:30 with something for everyone. Stall cleaning, manure management, blackberry removal, rooster pen expansion, water dish scrubbing and more. Be sure to wear rubber boots, gloves and warm clothing. Vegan snacks and friendly company provided. We hope to see you there! Contact Kit at kit.collins@gmail.com for more information. |
| Ride to the Light follow-up
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| The Ride to the Light bikers arrived at Out to Pasture in record time under sunny skies after pedaling 65 miles from Scio. Volunteers and bikers rested in the shade of the apple trees and enjoyed a vegan lunch together. Sack races, face painting, bean bag tossing, and attempts at juggling added to the fun. Thank you volunteers for cleaning stalls, getting the windfall apples, installing chicken wire, and picking up all the road fabric out of the pasture (so it can be reseeded and grow grass this year). Thanks to everyone who has made a Ride to the Light donation. And a big thank you to the bikers who rode 100 miles in the heat to raise money for sanctuary animals. |
| Ride to the Light donations are still being accepted, just click here. Thanks again to riders and donors for helping the animals! |
| On Wednesday August 24 Dr. Sally Cole came out to Out to Pasture to neuter Walter, float equine teeth, and to do some tusks trims and vaccinations. Walter the potbellied pig was adopted last year from the Eagle Creek Feedstore. The store had temporarily sheltered Walter after his previous "caretaker" announced he was going to shoot Walter rather than bother to find a new home for him. Shelly contacted OTP and with help from Patty Hill of Pig Rescue and Placement Services we were able to transport the big boy. Neutering Walter was necessary so we can house unspayed rescue pigs and also to prevent testicular cancer and prostate infections. It was a long, hot day and we all enjoyed watermelons at the end of the day! |
| Many people stopped by the Out to Pasture table to pick up brochures, dog biscuit recipes, coloring pages for kids and to find out more about what we do. It was nice to meet some of our Facebook friends and animal sponsors in person - thanks for stopping by! John Collins, ND (co-founder of Out to Pasture) gave his talk on vegan nutrition for children at VegFest on Sunday to a full house. VegFest is an annual vegan conference held every fall so come join the fun again next year! |
| Ride to the Light meet & greet lunch
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| Come join us to greet and eat lunch with the Ride to the Light Bikers on Saturday September 24th from noon to 3 pm. Meet the animals and enjoy a free vegan lunch under the shade of the apple trees. Children welcome! Volunteer chores such as stall cleaning and blackberry clipping will be available for those wishing to volunteer. If you are planning to join us please contact Kit at kit.collins@gmail.com. The bikers leave Scio around 7:30 am with the arrival time unknown but we will start serving lunch at noon. Anyone wishing to join the 100 mile bike ride (Ride to the Light 3/Sanctuary Century) to raise money for three sanctuaries including Out to Pasture can still sign up here. |
| A surprising and amazing gift
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| The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Oregon called recently and asked to visit Out to Pasture. They explained they were checking out OTP as a possible recipient of next year's raffle money at the annual convention planned for August 2012. It turned out they were tricking us and had actually already selected OTP as this year's recipient. As we visited the animals, Executive Vice President James Perucca and Vice President Barb Demings suddenly presented Kit with a large cardboard check for $1655 (along with the actual cash). What a nice surprise! This money will help pay some old vet bills plus help with winter feed. Thank you to IIABO of Portland for your generosity to the animals at Out to Pasture. Click on the images (above) to view larger version. |
| Northwest Veg is holdings its 7th annual VegFest September 17 & 18 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Our own John Collins, N.D. from Out to Pasture will be one of the Sunday speakers talking about vegan nutrition for children. VegFest promotes compassionate, healthy food choices with hundreds of free food samples, cooking demonstrations, movie screenings and presentations by health professionals. Dr. Neal Barnard from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Wayne Pacelle from the Humane Society will both be speaking at this low-cost, family friendly event. Check out the NW Veg website for more information. Come by the Out to Pasture booth and say hi! |
| We're so excited that Ride to the Light 3/Sanctuary Century is happening again this year, and we're so lucky to be one of its non-profit recipients! Come join the fun and help farm animals at the same time. |
| A group from Portland Parks Adaptive and Inclusion Recreation visited Out to Pasture on Wednesday August 3rd. We all sat on bales of straw in the shade of the apple trees while John told rescue stories about the animals. Everyone got to feed apple slices to the animals and watch the pigs cooling off in the mud. Come see us again and Nellie the goat says "Don't forget the apple slices". |
| Full size and additional photos are found in the photo gallery, here and here. |
| We all had great fun at the Out to Pasture Open House on Saturday July 23rd. It was a warm July day with cold lemonade, vegan hot dogs, fresh raspberries and plenty of vegan ice cream. Visitors got to meet the animals and listen to live music under the apple trees. Blueberry picking, a pinata, sack races and a raffle for door prizes added to the fun. Thank you to all the food donors and volunteers who made the day possible. Food donors included Turtle Island (hot dogs, kielbasa & Italian sausage, all vegan), Dave's Killer Bread (vegan bread), Food Fight Grocery (vegan ice cream) and Turtle Mountain (vegan ice cream) plus Thompson Farms in Boring (two delicious flats of raspberries). Wonderful music was provided by musicians Robert Moore, Mike Manning and friend and the second group made up of Jessica Bartlett, Dr. William Mehan and Dr. Stephen Sandburg-Lewis. Thanks to everyone who came to the Open House and let's do it again next year!
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 | | Good News! Food Fight Grocery is generously donating vegan ice cream to the Out to Pasture Open House happening on July 23rd from 5 to 8 pm. Be sure to stop by Food Fight Grocery (all vegan always) located at 1217 SE Stark in Portland and check out the inventory (no need to read labels at this store).
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| Thanks to all our volunteers, donors and customers for making our July 4th weekend yard sale a big success! We will be purchasing t-shirts to sell at our Open House on July 23rd plus buying feed, housing materials, and paying our veterinarian. This was the last yard sale for this year so thanks again for your support. |
 | Out to Pasture is fortunate to have been selected to be one of the non-profits for this quarter for the Dimes for a Difference Program at Whole Foods Market Hollywood District located at 4301 NE Sandy in Portland. Each quarter Whole Foods Market Hollywood selects three non-profits to be beneficiaries for the Bag Refund Program. For each bag you re-use, you can deduct ten cents off your |
| grocery bill or you can choose to give your refund to one of the non-profits listed at the register. Starting July 4th until the beginning of October be sure to bring your own bag when you shop Whole Foods Market Hollywood and thank you for selecting OTP at the register. |
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| We believe that non-human animals value their lives as much as we value our own and deserve to live free of exploitation and cruelty. |
| The Blueberry Patch | |
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| Poppy the pig was adopted as a piglet to be the school pet by the Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland. Living in the front of the school in a yard with some chickens, Poppy enjoyed being petted by all the children. When it was discovered that Poppy was really a farm pig and not a pot belly, Poppy was going to have to be relocated due to city regulations. The school decided to let a man take Poppy home to raise for meat.
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 | One of Red the rooster's former flockmates, Cannonball, is now living at OTP with Red. Named for his rotund physique
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| as a young chick, Cannonball was asked to move from his West Linn home. The neighbors were not morning people apparently and did not appreciate his 5 am crowing. Welcome to the flock, Cannonball, and thanks to Bonnie and Eric for transporting Cannonball to OTP.
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| Our gray cat SSL (short for Smokestack Lightning) has recovered from his eye surgery for entropian. Entropian is an eye condition where the eyelids turn inward and rub the eyes resulting in constant irritation and infections. SSL now has the most beautiful green eyes and is much happier and friendlier. Thank you donors for making SSL's operation possible. And thanks to Syd, Mars, and Anna for transporting SSL to Dr. Coles in Scio.
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| November 23, 2009...with cars driving by at 60 mph, Cleo (Cleopatra) the peahen lifted her head while her peacock mate, crushed by a car, lay dead nearby. Luckily John spotted her as we drove by. Her leg injured, Cleo spent time recuperating in the laundry room but she is doing much better now and is hanging with the bunnies.
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| Our two new llamas arrived Sunday, September 13th. Limo and Coco had spent the last few years tied to trees (as in 24/7) before being turned over to the llama rescue. Limo and Coco are now at OTP where they roam freely in our large pasture, sampling the foliage, and grazing. Never to be tied up again, we look forward to many happy years with Limo and Coco.
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| Already loaded in the back of the pickup truck on his way to be sold for meat, we were able to adopt LeRoy the goat |
| at the last minute. Previously left tethered all day, LeRoy is now enjoying roaming around to meet the other animals and to sample the foliage. After polishing off the rose bushes, LeRoy has now moved on to the blackberry bushes for some serious munching.
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| Sergio the donkey was abandoned by his former caretaker and left in a large field. He |
| went years without any veterinary care or hoof trims until Oregon Animal Rescue brought him to OTP. Terrified of humans, Sergio had to be tranquilized to be touched by anyone or get his hooves trimmed. Happily Sergio is now starting to trust humans and no longer has to be tranquilized. Much calmer Sergio now walks up to humans looking for treats. |
| Singer is a 26 year old former racehorse and show jumper. Nervous |
| and high strung, Singer left the racetrack unable to handle the stress of crowds or commotion. Next trained to be jumper, Singer became dangerous to rideand hard to show with behaviors including bucking, bolting, and rearing. Retired at OTP, Singer is now happy to be in the pasture living a quiet life away from horse shows and race tracks. |
| For years, Ruby the pot bellied pig had lived her life in a |
| horse stall never getting to root in the dirt or forage like a normal pig. When the new property owners took possession of the property they planned to have Ruby euthanized. Luckily Patty Hill from Pig Rescue Services and Placement was able to bring her to OTP. Grossly overweight from a diet of junk food and garbage, Ruby was too fat to spay. After losing weight OTP scheduled Ruby to be spayed. Unfortunately, multiple tumors had formed in Ruby's little body. Rather than choosing euthanasia, Ruby had surgery and is now back at OTP being treated with homeopathic remedies and fed a nutritious diet. She now spends her days digging in the dirt and eating blackberry leaves. |
| Frenchie was rescued from a drug house in Portland. The woman who rescued her said large guard |
| dogs had killed the other cats before she got there. Most likely suffering from trauma, Frenchie has a variety of erratic behavior problems which make her unadoptable to most homes. She can be aggressive and destructive for no reason. Frenchie requires a lot of space and gentle handling. She has calmed down a lot and gotten friendlier since she arrived a year ago.
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