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Biannual Newsletter, Spring MAY 27, 2026

Here’s what has happened in the last six months and what’s to come...

Congratulations, Saoirse Pastures! We incorporated as a non-profit in May of 2021 and this May we celebrate our fifth anniversary, which I understand is a milestone year for a non-profit. We thank our amazing community for acknowledging our work and supporting our rescue efforts and the life long care of our residents. It has also been ten years since we became stewards of the land that the sanctuary resides on. Our first rescue residents came in January of 2017. I had no plan in mind I just had a calling, and a need for land to help animals in need. My first thought was to be a liaison between the animals and people in need and safety. We built a barn and I thought we could quarantine and offer security until proper placement was found. From 2017 until 2020, that worked out well, with some of our rescues staying with us and others being placed at other sanctuaries, but as the need grew I decided to lean on our community for financial and volunteer support, and here we are. There is not a day that goes by that I am not humbled by the people I work with, the animals we care for, and you all! We would like to express our gratitude to all of our donors and volunteers who have continued to support us during these challenging times. Your generosity and dedication have allowed us to keep our programs running smoothly and effectively. Cheers, everyone!
Shannon Hamilton

New arrivals

Freckles and Fawn:

 Freckles and Fawn were born and raised on an Amish Farm. The young woman, Charlotte, asked her parents to spare the lives of two of the lambs so that they might keep them as companion friends. Children are so innately drawn and connected to other animals and our cultural constructs tend to break that bond and teach our children that certain animals are not meant for companionship. But as a child, when you have a lamb running with you through fields and jumping off of rocks with you as your best friend, you don't see the difference between a lamb and a dog. While the lambs were being loaded to head to slaughter, her parents let her keep two lambs. Freckles and Fawn continued to be her trusted companions until she was to be married, and her husband's family said the sheep could not come with her. She struggled with finding anyone in her community that would keep the sheep safe, so she sought out sanctuary. Freckles and Fawn came to Saoirse Pastures in March and just finished their quarantine and are now integrated with our herd. Both Freckles and Fawn are very outgoing and love interacting with all of our volunteers. Freckles likes to spend her mornings checking a particular gate we might not latch while we are cleaning so she can sneak in and access their hay from a secret corner, or she sneaks into the garden that is next to their pasture. Fawn has really taken to our only male sheep, Grover, and she likes to follow him around and nuzzle against him when he's lounging about, which is one of his favorite pastimes. We have had a blast watching them integrate into their new home and thoroughly enjoy getting to know them. We talk to Charlotte whenever she is able to use a phone and have connected with a community member of hers who is able to share photos with her. Pamela Pom Pom Paloozawitz:

 Pammy just arrived this second week of April to the sanctuary and she turned six years old on April 30th. She had her last calf in the fall and is considered "spent," meaning she is infertile, injured, or no longer as productive as the industry would like her to be. This could be due to high metabolic stress from constant forced pregnancy and lactation, and typically leads to slaughter at about 4-6 years of age. A cow has an average life expectancy of 25 years. The daughter of the farmer thought Pom-Pom was special and sought to find her sanctuary. Pamela was just released from her quarantine period, and has integrated with her herd of 5 other cows. They will spend their summer and fall out on pasture to enjoy the days together grazing, grooming one another, playing, and enjoying nature. Each and every day as we watch her grow closer to her herd, make special friends with Foxy and Avon, we feel such gratitude to be in a position to say yes to helping this beautiful girl. Bijou:

 Bijou has been with us for about a month. We had planned for her to come over the winter, but wanted to wait until spring before making the move. Bijou was born on a beef farm and was found freezing in a field. Neighbors took her in, nursed her back to health, and have cared for her since. Given her size and need to be with other cows we were happy to help offer Bijou sanctuary. She has some ocular challenges, but gets around fine and has integrated into her herd after her vaccines. She does have a slight learning curve because she has yet to be with other cows, but she started communicating with them instantly from her quarantine stall, and each day she is with them she learns about community, friendship, love and what it means to be in a herd. She loves to be brushed and loves to follow us around. We adore her and cannot wait to watch her flourish!Update: In the last few days since writing this, we noticed some lameness and swelling in Bijou’s back right hoof. After an emergency visit from the farrier and a consult with our vet, she is on antibiotics and on the mend, thankfully. Her emergency care, while necessary, cost us $3,000--a major expense we could not have anticipated. If you would like to help us with Bijou’s vet bills, please donate here.

Happenings at the sanctuary... Winter cold and summer heat to come!I do love winter! I find it to be restful even though our work is more labor-intensive. I love that we have a break from the flies and mosquitoes, and I love all the warm, nourishing food: lentil shepherd’s pie with mashed potatoes and sage gravy. As the months go on, your body adjusts to the cold and you figure out how to layer. This winter turned it up a notch, or down I should say. Negative 30 degrees, it turns out, is pretty cold! We keep the animals in the barns. we blanket the horses and the donkeys, and we make sure everyone has endless food and water. Everyone did well and we wore ski goggles! I tend to worry more about the summer heat! Especially when we have winters with temps that drastic, will we have a summer with temps exceeding 100. Summer heat is much harder on the animals. We have to keep a close eye on everyone. Make sure they have plenty of places to get out of the sun, water, mud, fans, etc. These changes to our climate will progress, but we do have the ability to make changes to help offset the damage our global leaders have created. Go vegan!

Vaccine and hoof trim day 2026 in the books...

Always an adventure! We have a new hoof trimmer for our cows. As you can imagine this is quite the undertaking, but hoof care is of the utmost importance. The hardest part for us has been finding someone who aligns with our humane care plans. The trimmers who work within the animal agriculture industry use force, fear, and pain to get the animals to comply as quickly as possible. We have found someone who is willing to work within our humane parameters and it worked beautifully. We were able to coordinate our vaccines on the same day. This allowed our awesome vet to access the cows while they were in the chute, which makes it much safer for all of us and less stressful for the cows. The rest of the animals at the sanctuary, all 68 of them, received their vaccines as well. Thanks to financial assistance from Triad we were able to add additional fencing late winter. One of the projects was adding “safety boxes” in front of the entrance gates going into our pig pastures. With a few of our pigs weighing in around 900 lbs who love to rub on gates, we need to be able to get in and out without someone escaping. Once we pass through the first gate, we are secure in a box and then can proceed into the pastures, but if someone gets past that gate they are secure in the box. These areas worked perfectly for vaccines. We led groups of pigs into the box at a time, gave them snacks, and administered the vaccines all while enjoying yummy food. The horses and donkeys stand with a lead and get a treat, the sheep pass through a gentle squeeze chute and then head back out to pasture, and we take a deep breath. I would like to share that this is our most expensive day. Our hoof trims cost us $2,700 and our vet care/vaccines cost us $2,758.

 Pebbles and Bam Bam’s retirement home...

Pebbles and Bam Bam were not only the first full-time residents of the sanctuary, but they were our first farmed animal rescues, my first one-on-one interaction with pigs and just an overall crash course in what this all entails. They have been with us since Jancuary of 2017 and were about 1-2 years of age when we brought them to sanctuary. I could write an entire book series about these two. What they have taught us, their personalities, their adventures, the endless hilarious stories and now watching them age. They have lived in so many different spots at the sanctuary—with the cows, with the goats, with the donkeys—and they make friends with everyone. As their herd grew and with a lot of young energy we could really see the age related differences. Bam has been deaf for a very long time if not his whole life and he has poor eyesight now. We thought it would be best for them to have a much quieter pace of life, but also a smaller pasture so they could explore with ease as Pebbles has started to show signs of cognitive decline. We decided to have them share a pasture with the Zebus who they have lived with before and carved out a section of the sheep barn for them to nest in. They can still come and go as they please, but much easier terrain and guidance from their cow friends. Here’s to many more years in the next phase of their lives!

Rotational grazing for our sheep...

Our sheep have a decent size permanent fenced pasture, but boy can they eat! With the help of a donor we were able to purchase a rotational grazing kit, which is electric netted fencing and solar charger. This allows us to move the sheep to new grass as often as we need. The sheep are full and happy, the soil is nourished and there Is balance to these micro ecosystems. It brings us such joy to watch them run to new grass.

Documentaries...

Last fall, Ithaca College students Ava Suffredini, Leah Riquier, Ryan Forbidussi, and Hannah Coulthurst contacted Saoirse Pastures with the interest of doing a documetary on the sanctuary for a class. With early guidance from our own Eleanor Henderson these four young adults created a beautiful depiction of our work at the sanctuary, the larger picture of industrial animal agriculture, and the plight of farmed animals. Please check out Individuals, Not Products. They did a wonderful job and should be incredibly proud of themselves. This was our third documentary made about the sanctuary in the last year. Thank you to Ava Hesslau and Charrisa King O‘Brien for their documentary work adn expressign compassion through artistic expression.  

The more you know...

 A huge thank you to Board Member and volunteer, Eleanor Henderson and volunteer Margaret McKinnis for designing our amazing education pages that are now uploaded on our website. Check them out!  

In Memoriam...

It is never easy to share the passing of our dear residents, but it is part of what we do. We wanted to share the untimely passing of our little potbelly, Waddles, who passed in his sleep. It was devastating to not know what happened, but after consulting with our vets and sanctuary partners who have also lost young pigs unexpectedly, we concluded that this was most likely a heart defect. Waddles came with his sisters Leah and Chidi, who are both healing from their loss.

Our older sheep, Moby, started to rapidly lose weight and even with our best efforts stopped eating. He was jaundiced and struggling, and with our vet’s guidance, we decided it was best to let Moby go where he would be free from pain. We are keeping a close eye on his brother, Grover, but Fawn, one of our new sheep residents, has been giving him a lot of attention.  

Volunteer Spotlight...

Tracy Petrofsky volunteered at the sanctuary and the thrift shop from September of 2023 to April of 2026. Tracy along with her mother, Theresa, and husband, Warren, have been invaluable supporters of Saoirse Pastures and will be sorely missed. A longtime volunteer in various animal welfare communities, Tracy brought humor, enthusiasm, reliability and friendship to all who worked with her. It has been sad without her, but we are happy to share her with others as her family transitions to their new home. Never a goodbye, but a see you soon! Thank you, dear friends!

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

McGraw House Talk...Saoirse Pastures’ first speaking engagement took place in January! I’ll let one of the attendees lead...“I recently had the good fortune to attend a workshop entitled “What is an Animal Sanctuary and Why Are They Needed?’”This was held in the Senior Residential Center where I reside. There were at least 30 people in attendance. I am embarrassed to admit I knew virtually nothing about Animal Sanctuaries and even less about Veganism. In spite of having at least two friends who practice Veganism. I wrongly assumed that it was just another "health kick," undertaken as something for their health only.At this point, I am happy to say how much more I know, and appreciate knowing, about both topics. The facts shared about animals and their heedless consumption by humans across the globe were staggering. It immediately made me think seriously about adopting a new and meatless diet despite the challenges that would present to a person, like myself, who has eighty plus years eating so differently, In addition to all the factual information that was presented, Shannon Hamilton, Director of Saoirse Pastures, took time to relate stories about our own local Sanctuary that she oversees...Her anecdotes about the animals that she worked with and how they nurtured and cared for each other was so meaningful. Those brief stories made me more resolved than ever to change the way I thought about animals and about the way I ate.I sincerely hope that the Saoirse Pastures Farm Animal Sanctuary can continue and that Shannon Hamilton can carry on, not only taking good care of many needy animals, but in spreading the word about her vital work. She is helping us all make this a better world.” LACS Student volunteers...

Four years of an amazing partnership with our LACS student volunteers! This year’s group of students were enthusiastic about coming each week, spending time with the animals, and helping with chores. We loved working with them and appreciated all their help at the sanctuary. Saoirse Charity Thrift Shop...Saoirse Charity Thrift Shop is approaching its one-year anniversary! We had a quieter winter, but look forward to having our doors open this summer. Your donations to the shop are priceless and we cannot thank you enough. Please spread the word and come down and shop!1201 N. Tioga Street.Open for donations and shopping: Friday & Saturdays 10am–4pm.

Fundraisers...

We will kick off our fundraising season with our fifth Ithaca Festival! Come say hi, sign up to volunteer and support us by buying a Saoirse Pastures sweatshirt, or other crafty items. We will also have the thrift store open for Porchfest again this year with a bake sale and, who knows, maybe some other fun offerings.

We need your help!

Infrastructure needs!

 It has been sixteen years since we moved to the land that we steward and it wasn’t until recently that we have experienced flooding and water damage. After some intense 2026 spring rains, we realized that we need to prioritize these areas of concern. After significant damage to our driveway, the excavation contractor who has been guiding us through that process has also been helping with the flood areas around our main barn. It has been suggested to us that after drainage infrastructure is implemented, we should extend the concrete platform for our main barn. The quoted amount covers drainage mitigation work to control the erosion to he hillsides and redirect the water away from the barn, a 20'x50' concrete slab extension behind the barn to keep the drainage in place (as this is where our cows winter), and a 16'x48' slab that runs along the west side of the barn, where our spicy pig herd resides year-round. We have been busily applying for grants to cover the cost of this work and hope we can raise what we need to get this done. If you are able to financially support these efforts we would be forever grateful. This is a large scale project and your support makes all the difference. If you have any questions please email: saoirsepastures@gmail.com.

Oppose the Farm Bill!

The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (House Farm Bill) has passed the House by a vote of 224–200 and is currently headed to the Senate. Your action is needed to stop this bill, which includes the controversial and devastating Save Our Bacon Act. This grotesquely named act would undo decades of animal welfare reforms, such as Prop 12 in California. Voters at the state level have the right to protect animals, including, for example, by voting for welfare laws that protect mother pigs from living in confined gestation crates. Farmed animals already live in horrifying conditions in our country with almost no legal protection. (You can read more about Farmed Animals and the Law here.)More than 300 farm organizations have opposed this bill, and yet New York’s own Josh Riley voted for it. Supporting a bill that makes it easier for corporations to exploit and harm animals means putting commodification over compassion.If you care about preserving protections for farmed animals, please call your state senators and ask them to vote NO on the farm bill if it contains the “Save our Bacon Act.” If you live in NY, their numbers are 202-224-4451 (Kristen Gillibrand) and 202-224-6542 (Chuck Schumer). It’s easy, and urgent!