SANCTUARY CLINIC WEEK WITH FARM SANCTUARY
In June 2021, Odd Man Inn gratefully welcomed 7 members of the Farm Sanctuary animal care staff for a “Sanctuary Clinic Week” at our new location in Jamestown, Tennessee. After months of preparation, the teams arrived from both sides of the country to help us perform health checks on the pigs we accepted in April of this year. Though we’ve been working nonstop to triage the sickest animals to the University of Tennessee, we knew we needed help to address the routine health maintenance needs of the animals. We reached out for help, and Farm Sanctuary answered in a big way!
From start to finish, the team at Farm Sanctuary was kind and gracious- fully in sync with our desire to help the animals get the care they need. Our prep work was extensive to help make this collaboration a success. We built fenced corrals for safe containment of animals, fully stocked the clinic with medical supplies and tools, and prepared our own small sanctuary team for the physical work that would take place.
AND WE PHONED ANOTHER FRIEND…
The sheer volume of medical tasks has been difficult in the first few months in Tennessee, and they continue to be the biggest part of our new budget. Thanks to a very generous $10,000 medical grant from the “Esther Shares” program at Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary (HEEFS), Odd Man Inn was able to provide all the medical supplies and professional veterinary care we needed for Sanctuary Clinic Week, including the specialty care that was needed for the three pigs we triaged to the University of Tennessee during our health checks. It has been immensely humbling to feel the support and generosity of organizations we respect and admire so deeply. We could not ask for two finer teammates than Esther the Wonder Pig and Farm Sanctuary.
SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN
The professionalism we experienced working alongside the Farm Sanctuary staff was inspiring and educational. Not only does Farm Sanctuary promote collaboration amongst other animal rescue organizations, they sent physical help when we called for it. In a matter of just four days, we were able to safely perform health checks on seventy pigs, which included extensive hoof and tusk care, body condition assessments, wound care, vaccinations, and microchipping. There were no medical records for any of the pigs we welcomed into the Odd Man Inn family in April, which has also made identification difficult. With the photos and medical information we now have recorded, we can accurately identify the animals, and we are creating digital records for each of them.
“We knew through this collaborative work, that we had an opportunity to improve the lives of all of those animals and the humans who care for them. We knew we needed to act on that.”
Jessica Due, Farm Sanctuary’s National Co-Director of Animal Care
While Odd Man Inn has always practiced preventative medicine and routine medical care for the animals, the sheer volume of new work in Tennessee was daunting without the help of a big sister sanctuary. We didn’t want the animals to wait for us to catch up, so we called for help as soon as we assumed guardianship. We’re eternally grateful for the assistance of the Farm Sanctuary team in helping us meet the needs of our new pig friends. They will continue mentoring us as we carry on the process of getting the Tennessee pigs tuned up.
Farm Sanctuary was a pleasure to work with at every juncture and on every level. You can read the full story of our collaboration on Farm Sanctuary’s Blog.
