have you interned at a place like Farm Sanctuary?
Hey VWers,
so I've been thinking for a couple of years now about applying for an internship at Farm Sanctuary. Not in the immediate future, since I still have to graduate this summer and pay off some loans, but maybe in the next couple of years. Hopefully before then I will have visited the NY shelter and learned more about it, but I'm wondering a few things...if you've had any experience there and can share some, that would be lovely. :) I'm specifically wondering how the living arrangements are if you live on the property, how queer positive this place is, and what kind of "employer" the sanctuary people are. Also I'm from Canada so I'm not sure if there would be anything extra to worry about.
thoughts? stories? Any other similar places people recommend interning/working at? :)
So, this probably isn't that much help, cause I've never interned there, but have considered it many times! Anyway, I grew up in central NY and I've visited the NY farm sanctuary several times, for tours and sometimes they have special open houses. They have some small guest cabins on the property, which I'm assuming is where the interns stay. I think it's kind of like a hostel, where you'd be sharing bedrooms, bath, kitchen with other interns. I'm sure you could camp also, if you wanted too as it's all fields and woods! I noticed on their website that former interns have posted some blogs, so maybe you could contact them directly to get the inside scoop?
Anyway, the farm itself is pretty isolated and the closest town is Watkins Glen. Watkins Glen is best known for car-racing (Nascar) and isn't a lot of fun (in my opinion!). However, Ithaca (where I grew up) is about a 45 minute drive and is very queer friendly, with tons of great veggie/vegan places to eat, health food store, coffee places, gay bars, etc. So there is stuff to do in the general area and if you are into being outdoors (which I assume you must be if you want to work on the farm!) there are a ton of places to swim, hike and picnic. If you didn't have a car, you'd be pretty much trapped there, but probably someone there would?
Hope that helps! Sorry I can't speak to the actual internship experience!
Talk to capture.
I dont have any stories but I have posted on here too about wanting to do and internship there (and maybe with PETA too) but mostly teh farm sanctuary....I love the educational aspect of it for the public.
one day, either after nursing school, or during my time on the "waiting list" (If I end up on that dreaded list... :-\) I will go :)>>>
Talk to capture.
haha! Yep..I do know all about it!
OK! Here is the sitch-- I have not interned at FS, but I am applying there and at Pasado's out in Washington state (WA is my first choice! Cross your fingers!) and I currently volunteer at two local sanctuaries so I can give you an idea of the kind of work you will be doing--I also know several people who have interned at both the NY and Cali location.
First of all--your living arrangements are in a shared house with shared rooms--bunk bed or cot style. They do have cabins, but those are B&B's they rent. If you intern in the summer you will ABSOLUTELY be sharing a room. If you go in the winter you will probably have the house to yourself or with 1 or 2 other people.
The work is hard. If you work directily with the animals you can expect to work long shifts and it is very labor intensive. They tell you that you are required to work a 40 hour work week, but all the people I know that went out said they worked more like 60+ hours a week. One of my friends said she was so tired every night that she wouldn't even want to talk to her friends or family, she would just go to sleep. I don't want to deter you, I jsut want to give you the heads up--it is not easy work.
The people there are GREAT!!! Gene is AWESOME! I looove him, and he is really cute! So laid back! I don't know how much you would see him though--but everyone I have met that works up there is out of this world nice.
Another thing to consider is that you have to provide EVERYTHING (food, bedding, towels, hygene products, etc.) the whole time you are there and you also have to pay a $150 deposit too. So, basically, you pay them to work your ass off. But, the animals really need the help and you will have the most incredible moments of your life!
Besides FMNY and Cali there is:
http://www.woodstockfas.org/index.shtml
http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/index.html
http://www.sashafarm.org/index.php
http://www.seashepherd.org/
Woodstock is in NY too, Pasado's is in Washington State (I'm still waiting to hear back from them! *I'm so anxous!!*), Sasha is where I volunteer now, and Sea Shepard is just BAD ASS!! there are a lot of other place too all across the country and the world for that matter--Austrialla has some nice places, and New Zealand too! Totally don't limit yourself! Just start searcing and you'll find stuff!
If you want to message me feel free--I'm on here and fb, and you can get my email addy from BayPuppy! I would be happy to answer any questions you have and help you with the application process!
I am with Capture on this one
allot of work
What I do is allot of transport for small animals.
Want to transport larger animals just do not have the equipment to do it right now.
Working on that.
So that is my money I use for the truck and what ever supplies I need.
It is nice when the group you are helping gives you a little something.
If I was just doing the care of animals I would need no money.
Basically the key thing to think of is
Do you feel you have a real passion for working with animals all sizes?
If you do not it will feel like a job and you tire of it.
The only farm animals I am unsure of handling are horses and ostriches.
Pretty confident wrangling the other ones.
I want to assure you that FS will train you exceptionally well so even if you are unsure of how to care for farm animals now--you will learn when you get there--also, there have a lot of other jobs besides working directly with the animals, you can do administrative work, education, help with guided tours, etc. It's all hard but really rewarding work and you will have plenty of fun too! The NY location is up in the Finger Lakes region and you can go hiking, camping, sledding, swimming, all sorts of stuff!!!
Forgot to mention I am 100 % Volunteer and have never interned doing anything like this.
I do know interning and volunteering should be pretty much the same thing.
Have learned allot doing it just was not making it my career path.
I interned at Animal Acres (farmed animal sanctuary, started by Lorri Bauston after the divorce from Gene...). Though I know Capture gave you much more useful info than I can, same deal here: you share the place with another intern (actually for me, one of the staff). I worked about 40h a week, which is what they told me - and hell yeah it's physically challenging. Not just muscular endurance, but restraining animals (hoof trimming!) and, er, odors. I really like the physical labor aspect of it. Really makes you appreciate a good night's rest...
And it's just really nice being able to hang out with some of the animals. I grew up in a city, so I wasn't used to being around farmed animals. Pigs were kinda scary, cows were mean (bullies! haha. they'd still my trash can and rake and use me as a scratching post >:( ), but I friggin' love the turkeys, goats, and sheep. I'm just one of those animal people, so it was cool to make buddies with some of them :)
I interned at Animal Acres (farmed animal sanctuary, started by Lorri Bauston after the divorce from Gene...). Though I know Capture gave you much more useful info than I can, same deal here: you share the place with another intern (actually for me, one of the staff). I worked about 40h a week, which is what they told me - and hell yeah it's physically challenging. Not just muscular endurance, but restraining animals (hoof trimming!) and, er, odors. I really like the physical labor aspect of it. Really makes you appreciate a good night's rest...
And it's just really nice being able to hang out with some of the animals. I grew up in a city, so I wasn't used to being around farmed animals. Pigs were kinda scary, cows were mean (bullies! haha. they'd still my trash can and rake and use me as a scratching post >:( ), but I friggin' love the turkeys, goats, and sheep. I'm just one of those animal people, so it was cool to make buddies with some of them :)
Really!??!!? The cows and pigs were mean and scary?? That is so unusual! All the pigs and cows I have ever worked with have been so nice and sweet! Of course sometimes they get cranky--but overall they are wonderful, friendly, beautiful creataures :) :) At my farm we even have a wild boar saved from a "shoot on sight" order because he is "dangerous" well, if you consider a happy guy who loves to eat apples and be petted, loves to nap in the afternoon sun, run around in the yard and chat it up with visitors dangerous you are delussional!
Well, it still sounds like you had a great time Faunablues!! Working with the animals is definitely very rewarding--I highly encourage everyone who can to volunteer at a farm or shelter--you will never regret it!!!
**I posted a bunch of farm pics in this weeks blog entry**
Well, the cows that the sanctuary had at the time were 3 males, and apparently they have a bit of a different temperament than the girls...
And, the piggies had issues because they were rescued from a slaughterhouse, not as piglets :'( and apparently some of the breeding done to them, while making them gain a whole lot of weight and get reeally huge, makes them more aggressive. They were more grumpy/would not tolerate anything other than a belly rub/will run you down if you have food. ::)
Captire I just looked at your profile here and only see lots of cat pics.
**I posted a bunch of farm pics in this weeks blog entry**
Captire I just looked at your profile here and only see lots of cat pics.
**I posted a bunch of farm pics in this weeks blog entry**
They are posted on my blog which has restricted access depending on the article subject--they are all posted on my facebook though which i entirely public :)
thanks capture
Already checked out all your pics on facebook :)
awesome. thanks for all the info people!
Capture & co: I'm used to hard work - I've worked at kennels the past couple of years (12 hour shifts pretty often too!) and with horses etc so I think I could take it (hopefully - I'm pretty small.) As for living arrangements, if you don't have transportation is there like a weekly grocery run or anything? or is there something close by? Do you have set shifts to fill the 40 hours (as in, you DO get some days of the week off, yes? it sounds like a beautiful area that I'd probably want to explore.) I would really like to work with the animals themselves, the animal health internship is what I'm interested in the most. It seems like something positive I can do (temporarily, at least) with this animal biology (read: farming animals) I'll have by the summer.
monieluv, thanks to you too - it's good to know about the surrounding area. When I asked about queer-positiveness etc, I kind of meant the sanctuary itself/the staff - as in would it be a queer-positive place to work? It might sound ridiculous since most veg folks seem to be positive or queer themselves, but just the same, it's good to know. I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem though.
Anyone know how competitive it is? Do many people apply for internships? I'm thinking I'd like to go during the fall. Hopefully it'll be easier to get in than during the summer. Thanks for all the links as well, I'll have to look into some other places! :)
awesome. thanks for all the info people!
Capture & co: I'm used to hard work - I've worked at kennels the past couple of years (12 hour shifts pretty often too!) and with horses etc so I think I could take it (hopefully - I'm pretty small.) As for living arrangements, if you don't have transportation is there like a weekly grocery run or anything? or is there something close by? Do you have set shifts to fill the 40 hours (as in, you DO get some days of the week off, yes? it sounds like a beautiful area that I'd probably want to explore.) I would really like to work with the animals themselves, the animal health internship is what I'm interested in the most. It seems like something positive I can do (temporarily, at least) with this animal biology (read: farming animals) I'll have by the summer.
monieluv, thanks to you too - it's good to know about the surrounding area. When I asked about queer-positiveness etc, I kind of meant the sanctuary itself/the staff - as in would it be a queer-positive place to work? It might sound ridiculous since most veg folks seem to be positive or queer themselves, but just the same, it's good to know. I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem though.
Anyone know how competitive it is? Do many people apply for internships? I'm thinking I'd like to go during the fall. Hopefully it'll be easier to get in than during the summer. Thanks for all the links as well, I'll have to look into some other places! :)
Tino--You should be applying now if you want in for the fall--maybe we'll be bunking together! I still have not heard back from Pasado's and my friend and I will most likely be applying at FSNY pretty soon! I'm not sure how competitive it is for the fall--but I know spring/summer fills up quick!
They do have a town nearby and there is a weekly trip to the store for those that do not have a car. I'm not certain abot the shifts--I think, especially with the animals, you work until everything is done. I had a friend go out to CaliFS and she worked 60+ hours a week and even on her "days off".
That's great you have experience with dogs and horses!! And I'm little too--we can take it!!! We're strong girls right!!! **flexes muscles* *lol*
I think it's more important to have a strong heart anyways! Anyone can bale hay--but to truly love without boundaries is special indeed!
I'm so happy you are applying!!! <3 <3
thanks Cappy! :) I probably won't apply this year since I'm just finishing my degree, so I have loans to pay off and that's my first priority - so it will probably be at least a year from now, but it would be so awesome to end up interning with some VWers! Maybe it'll work out anyway. I'm going to continue looking into this for now, and if you do end up going before I do, I'd love to see pictures/hear about your experience!
Small-ish people can definitely handle such work...if I can do it, anybody could, I'm sure. :) good luck with everything!
awesome. thanks for all the info people!
Capture & co: I'm used to hard work - I've worked at kennels the past couple of years (12 hour shifts pretty often too!) and with horses etc so I think I could take it (hopefully - I'm pretty small.) As for living arrangements, if you don't have transportation is there like a weekly grocery run or anything? or is there something close by? Do you have set shifts to fill the 40 hours (as in, you DO get some days of the week off, yes? it sounds like a beautiful area that I'd probably want to explore.) I would really like to work with the animals themselves, the animal health internship is what I'm interested in the most. It seems like something positive I can do (temporarily, at least) with this animal biology (read: farming animals) I'll have by the summer.
monieluv, thanks to you too - it's good to know about the surrounding area. When I asked about queer-positiveness etc, I kind of meant the sanctuary itself/the staff - as in would it be a queer-positive place to work? It might sound ridiculous since most veg folks seem to be positive or queer themselves, but just the same, it's good to know. I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem though.
Anyone know how competitive it is? Do many people apply for internships? I'm thinking I'd like to go during the fall. Hopefully it'll be easier to get in than during the summer. Thanks for all the links as well, I'll have to look into some other places! :)
Tino--You should be applying now if you want in for the fall--maybe we'll be bunking together! I still have not heard back from Pasado's and my friend and I will most likely be applying at FSNY pretty soon! I'm not sure how competitive it is for the fall--but I know spring/summer fills up quick!
They do have a town nearby and there is a weekly trip to the store for those that do not have a car. I'm not certain abot the shifts--I think, especially with the animals, you work until everything is done. I had a friend go out to CaliFS and she worked 60+ hours a week and even on her "days off".
That's great you have experience with dogs and horses!! And I'm little too--we can take it!!! We're strong girls right!!! **flexes muscles* *lol*
I think it's more important to have a strong heart anyways! Anyone can bale hay--but to truly love without boundaries is special indeed!
I'm so happy you are applying!!! <3 <3
Hi all,
I figured I'd pipe in briefly since I work at Farm Sanctuary and help out with the Internship Program at the CA Shelter.
Since 1986 we have offered internship opportunities to individuals committed to Farm Sanctuary's goals and programs. And today you can apply for an internship in virtually any department: shelter, education, administration, development, legal, etc but most openings are for shelter. All of these are listed on our website along with much more information on housing availability, amenities, etc: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/get_involved/jobs/intern.html.
If anyone has questions, we encourage you to ask us! Just send an e-mail to eval(unescape('%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%69%6e%66%6f%40%66%61%72%6d%73%61%6e%63%74%75%61%72%79%2e%6f%72%67%22%3e%69%6e%66%6f%40%66%61%72%6d%73%61%6e%63%74%75%61%72%79%2e%6f%72%67%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b')). We'd be happy to answer or address any questions or concerns you may have about the program, etc.
Many thanks and good luck with your future endeavors for animals!
-Carolyn
thanks OMB! I will definitely look into the stuff on the website and will probably email once I sort out when I want to do this.