Animal Sanctuary cures hangovers

Well, it cured my hangover, at least. On Saturday morning (after a night of too much alcohol), a friend and I went to Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary, a sanctuary for rescued farm animals, where they can live out their lives in peace and happiness. My friend and I have both sponsored animals at Poplar Springs: I sponsor two chickens named Tyler and Wendy (pictured at right: Wendy is the white chicken and Tyler is the spotten one), and my friend sponsors a pig named Peony.

The sanctuary was amazing, and I would highly recommend anyone interested in animals try to arrange a visit. They have chickens, turkeys, a peacock, pigs, mules, horses, goats, sheep and cows at the sanctuary, and they are all friendly, so you can even go up and pet them. In fact, I held two chickens (they just sat peacefully in my arms and let me stroke their feathers) and a goat befriended me, butting his head up to my hand to receive petting and following me around. There were a bunch of children visiting the sanctuary with their parents, and they were able to hand-feed the goats and sheep. A place like Poplar Springs is such a nice, cruelty-free alternative to evil petting zoos.

The proprietors know the names of every single animal at the sanctuary (they have over 70 chickens alone!) as well as their stories. If you sponsor an animal through them, they send you a biography of the animal as well as a framed photo. It's amazing to think that a place like this exists just an hour outside of DC. But it does! So donate and visit! It was a phenomenal experience and absolutely worth the trip.