Indiana: Get personal and up close with a pig at Indiana's first farm animal sanctuary

INDIANA -- Michelle Pruitt said the efforts she and husband Mark have made in starting the state's first farm animal sanctuary pays off when a visitor reaches out to pet one of the pigs on site and the large animal flops over for a belly rub.

It is at that moment that the perception of the animal often changes from a source of food to an individual, especially for those who have dogs and cats back home, she said.

"Everything is a concept until you've had a personal experience," Michelle Pruitt said.

This type of personal connection with the animals is part of the goal of the farm sanctuary movement, which has spawned many locations across the country and is attracting an increasing amount attention.

Gene Baur, who founded the New York state-based Farm Sanctuary nearly 30 years ago, made a recent appearance on "The Daily Show" to promote his new book, "Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day."

Mark Pruitt left behind a full-time career in social work, and Michelle Pruitt worked in recruiting, coaching and education for profit and nonprofit organizations before starting Uplands PEAK Sanctuary late in 2013.

The couple now rely primarily on donations, occasional grants and volunteer help to manage the 20-acre sanctuary located among the quiet, rolling hills of southern Indiana.

Despite being surrounded by more traditional animal agriculture farms, Michelle Pruitt  said the sanctuary has had no resistance and has attracted curiosity and even instances of generosity from the local community.

"I think most people can appreciate — vegan or not vegan — that you're rescuing animals," she said. "They still think it's a noble cause."

In addition to seven pigs, the sanctuary is home to three goats and efforts are in the works to expand to include chickens this year and eventually cows as well, Pruitt said.

Each animal has taken a challenging road to the sanctuary, including the pig Lucy, who survived a fall from a transport truck at just a few weeks old.

Another pig, Tulip, was among a group of 98 piglets found sitting in buckets at a factory farm in northwest Illinois waiting to be killed because of her slow growth.

Twiggy, who is one of the resident goats, was rescued with four other goats from a stall that had been nailed shut for a year. The animals had received little food and water during that time and were infested with parasites and could barely walk because their hooves were too long.

The personality of each animal is as unique as its troubled past, Pruitt said.

Pig Isaac, who is known around Uplands PEAK as the "ever gentle giant," is playful and enjoys collecting feed bags, boxes and other "toys" in his bed. His sister Brandi, by contrast, is more reserved and is content doing her own thing, according to sanctuary website.

There are 73,150 pig farms in the United States, marketing 120 million pigs each year, according to Purdue University. Indiana markets 8.5 million pigs annually, making it the fifth-largest-producing state.

"Obviously you're not going to save everyone," Pruitt said of the farm animals. But "everyone around here — their lives matter."

Uplands PEAK is a four-hour drive from Northwest Indiana. Visitors are welcome each Sunday through Oct. 25, with extended stays available for volunteers, she said.

A bed and breakfast room is available for overnight stays, camping begins June 12 and there is a new hotel in the nearby Salem business district, Pruitt said. There are various outdoor activities and tourist attractions in the immediate area, and Bloomington and Brown County are a little more than an hour away.

(NWI Times - May 2, 2015)