Animal Camp: Lessons in Love and Hope from Rescued Farm Animals

By Kathy Stevens

Picking up where she left off in Where the Blind Horse Sings, Kathy Stevens regales us with more tales of the rescued animals at Catskill Animal Sanctuary (CAS), some touching, some hilarious, all provocative. We meet Barbie, the broiler hen found hiding under a blue Honda in Brooklyn who falls for the animal ambassador Rambo, a ram with an uncanny sense of what others need. Then there’s Norma Rae, the turkey rescued from a turkey bowl” just before Thanksgiving. There’s also Noah, a twenty-one-year-old stallion, starved and locked in a dark stall for his entire life until he came to the safety and plenty of CAS. Claude, the giant pink free-range pig, is but another of the underfoot family,” those who roam the barnyard, free and with dignity, interacting with their own and other species in startling and profound ways.

The love Stevens has for these animals, and the amount of love they give her in return, is stunning and will make any reader more thoughtful of how we treat a whole class of animals in this country. Pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys, horses, goats, sheep, and more, march into CAS and into our hearts as we learn about their quirks and personalities and what makes us human.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Release date: Sep 8, 2010
• ISBN: 9781626363731

Kathy Stevens

Kathy Stevens in 2001, co-founded Catskill Animal Sanctuary, where her love of teaching, her belief that education has the power to transform, and her love of animals come together. Kathy is the author of Where the Blind Horse Sings and Animal Camp, two critically and popularly-acclaimed books about the work of Catskill, and a frequent contributor to books, podcasts, and articles on animal sentience, animal rights, and veganism. She takes her message of kindness to all beings and the urgent imperative of veganism to conferences and colleges in the US and Canada. Kathy lives on the grounds of Catskill in Saugerties, New York, with her dogs Chumbley and Scout, and kisses many critters every day.

Reviews for Animal Camp

[mariesansone · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Animal Camp is Kathy Stevens' second book, after Where the Blind Horse Sings, relaying stories and meditations on the pigs, sheep, goats, horses, chickens, and other farm animals; humans and dogs; and handful of wild animals that populate the Catskill Animal Sanctuary (CAS), located in Saugerties, New York.Stevens, a former high school teacher, is one of the founders and director of CAS, having purchased a Hudson Valley farm that was in ruins and transforming it into a 100-acre haven for abused horses and farm animals. CAS, which opened in 2003, has since come to the aid of nearly 2,000 animals. It also conducts public awareness and educational activities relating to animal welfare and vegetarian and vegan diets.CAS provides a refuge for animals that have run out of options, the victims of cruelty and ignorance, abandonment, hoarding, the practices of mass production used in industrial agriculture, and even the recession, as owners facing foreclosure and economic hardships can no longer provide their animals with proper care. The sanctuary offers these animals a place of healing, aiming to help each animal, no matter how debilitated or damaged, to thrive.Following a brief introduction to CAS, Animal Camp is divided into two parts, with the first part describing the summer Stevens moved to her partner's house, bringing along not only her trusty dog, Murphy, a principal character in the book, but also a young steer, horse, and pig, all of whom had been ostracized by their fellow CAS resident animals. Away from their tormenters, each develops the self-confidence that will assure their continued well-being upon return to the sanctuary, albeit with some backsliding.The second part of the book is a compilation of essays written upon Stevens return to CAS, tales of particular animals, winter hardships, broiling summer days, loving farewells to animals that must be euthanized, the dedicated staff and volunteers, and sanctuary visitors, and contains a passionate argument for vegetarian and vegan diets.The book is illustrated with a series of color photographs of the sanctuary, its resident animals, and staff.Animal Camp is a joyous book, grounded in a joyous life, abundant in empathy, concern, compassion, love, and humor, juxtaposed against animal cruelty and the dark side of industrialized agriculture with its crowding, genetic modifications (frankenfood), downer animals, and environmental degradation ( odors, production of methane and other greenhouse gases, heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers, food borne illnesses, habitat destruction, and loss of biodiversity). Stevens and CAS promote vegetarian and vegan diets as a means that individuals can take to bring about a direct and immediate end to at least some animal suffering and the other adverse consequences of large-scale agriculture. As Stevens observes, it is very difficult to consume animals that one has befriended. Regardless of one's views on vegetarian and vegan diets (and Stevens identifies many of the reasons people have for including fish, meat, and dairy products in their diets), the sustainability of our food supply is something that should concern all of us. Getting to know a handful of the animals once raised as a food source or for other human purposes can help us to think more clearly about the consequences of our choices