Goatacre Animal Sanctuary
About
Goatacre Animal Sanctuary and Cafe lies, as the name suggests, in the small village of Goatacre, Wiltshire. My first visit was around three years ago, when I spent time photographing some of the residents. More recently, I took our son to Goatacre to visit the new vegan cafe, and meet the animals.
Goatacre Animal Sanctuary is run by a very dedicated team of two (Emma and David). Every penny raised for the sanctuary goes straight back into caring for the animals, providing food, shelter, warm beds, veterinary care, and anything else that they need. Emma and David both work, almost full time jobs, to enable them to continue running the sanctuary and caring for as many animals as they can.
Residents range from goats, to chickens, to pigs, to ducks, to guinea pigs, and more. Many of them have been saved from slaughter, unpleasant living conditions, or have been unwanted pets. Sometimes families have had to make the difficult decision to re home their animals due to a change in circumstance. Whatever the reason, Emma and David endeavour to help as much as they can. This often entails working around the clock to save lives, and leads to much heartache as well as joy.
The sanctuary is a wonderfully peaceful place to visit. It is also an amazing environment to share with children as an introduction to kindness and compassion towards all living things.
Emma tells me more …
I caught up with Emma during a rare moment of peace and asked her to tell me more.
Thank you for taking a break to have a chat, Emma. Let’s start by finding out a bit more about you ….
My name is Emma and I’m 33 years old, I live in Goatacre with my husband, and we run the Sanctuary together. I adore animals and I am passionate about their wellbeing and welfare.
And tell me about Goatacre Animal Sanctuary and Cafe ….
We took the empty barn and paddocks on 3 years ago. At that time, we knew nothing about keeping farm animals and were both working full time. We began to look for animals to fill the barn, it was then that we realised just how many animals needing rescuing. Our space quickly evolved into a Sanctuary, now home to over 60 residents!!
We are both vegan and wanted to share this passion with our visitors. I adore baking and trialling new recipes, so that’s where the cafe comes in! We offer delicious cakes, biscuits and other treats as well as hot drinks. We have been overwhelmed with the response for this – and not just from our vegan visitors!
You’re clearly very busy. Talk me through some of the residents at the sanctuary.
Currently we are home to 8 pigs, 12 goats, 5 sheep, 4 rabbits, 7 guinea pigs, 2 turkeys, a cockerel, countless hens and ducks AND a tortoise.
I can see that you care very much for all of your residents; are there any cases which have touched you in particular?
Definitely my beautiful girl Chunk, who is a “micro pig” (I use that phrase lightly!) She came to us with her sister, Pickle. They were 6 months old and had been living in a house. Sadly, their owners were fed up with them – I’m assuming they were just trying to be pigs – and in the owner’s words “they have to go”. We didn’t have space but we managed to make some. They were beautiful girls and so loving. Sadly Pickle became very ill soon after and passed away, Chunk remained at her side until her last breath. I spent a lot of time comforting Chunk, cuddling up in her bed together and chatting – we share a really special bond that I don’t have with all the animals.
Who is, or has been, your most unusual resident?
I would have to say Benji, our tortoise! He is 76 years young and runs around the garden like a rocket!!!
And what do you enjoy the most about running the sanctuary?
The relationships that we build with the animals
I can understand that! Which aspects do you find the most challenging?
Finding a work/sanctuary/life balance, is really hard and it can get you down. The days are long and can be relentless at times, you never really know how long your day will be – sometimes 12 hours sometimes 16 or 18 and you never get a lie in … ever! It’s really important for us to schedule time out, even if it’s sitting at home in our pjs!!
What future plans (or hopes) do you have for the sanctuary?
We are so happy as we are, I just hope that the support and love we have from our visitors continues.
You mention support, how can people help the sanctuary?
We have a volunteer group which is absolutely invaluable to us, helping us to muck out, feed the animals and give them lots of cuddles and love.
We accept donations of fruit and vegetables, and there is also a “support us” section on our website where you can donate feed, straw and hay!!
Finally, what sort of experience can visitors expect?
It’s definitely a hands on experience!! Our animals love being fussed, our goats will bombard you for cuddles and our pigs roll over for belly tickles! The sanctuary has a very calm and friendly vibe about it and despite being small people tend to stay for hours, just enjoying the environment! And of course there is always cake!!
Thank you, Emma, for taking the time to talk to me. I really do encourage people to visit the Sanctuary. Open on Fridays from 10 until 2, you are guaranteed a warm welcome from all residents. And of course, take the time to enjoy the cafe too. You can follow Goatacre on Facebook to keep up to date with news and events.
