Our animals
We have many, many animals at the farm, most of them rescues. Many of our animals came here via the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry OSPCA in Cornwall, Ontario, although some of them were beloved pets brought here by owners who could no longer care for them. Several of our resident cats were dumped at the farm, something we absolutely do not encourage!
Come meet our cast of characters...
EMILY
It was 4:45 am on a bitter January morning in 2012 when I woke from a dead sleep to the cries of a kitten outside in the snow (Gordon says I hear kitten cries the way some women hear baby cries!) The temperature was -20C and the windchill -29C. Clearly Emily had been dumped at our farm. I spent 24 hours chasing this wily feline around the garden before my friend Rosemary helped me corner Emily in the woodpile in the granary. Rosemary held up the piece of wood Emily was hiding under, and with a gloved hand, I pulled out the screeching kitten. Five minutes later, we were cuddling in the warm house.
Emily loves to walk along the bathtub edge between the shower curtain and liner while you are showering, meowing until you finish and wrap yourself in a towel, at which point she demands you pick her up, hug her against your chest, and tell her how wonderful she is.
OPHELIA
Ophelia came to us from the OSPCA in February 2014. She is a pot-bellied pig, born in 2011. What none of us knew when she arrived was that she was pregnant. We started calling her The Floozy after that. (Yes, I know, pig-shaming!)
She gave birth to seven adorable piglets on April 20, 2014... Easter Sunday. Sadly, despite our vet's best efforts, the little runt we named Wilbur succumbed to pneumonia a couple of week later. But the other six are thriving. Ophelia was an excellent mother to them, and they grew hugely fat on her milk.
CORDELIA
One of Ophelia's piglets. She has a very nice smile but is a little shy. Unlike her sisters, she has a pure pink nose on top, with just that one little black spot on the side.
Cordelia loves to get down and dirty in the mud. She is the piglet who looks most like her mama.
OLIVIA
Another daughter of Ophelia. She has lovely black "freckles" and half of her snout is black on top. She has a gorgeous grin. Enjoys belly rubs and mud facials. She thinks apples are the best treat on earth.
GIGI
This little cutie also came to us from Jamaica via The Animal House Jamaica and Eastern Ontario Potcake Rescue. Gigi was found wandering the streets of Ochos Rios as a very tiny puppy, separated from her pack. She was scooped up and taken to The Animal House, from where she made her way to us! We were only supposed to foster Gigi, but within 24 hours, we'd decided to keep her. Her Gotcha Day is December 27, 2016. her nickname is Fruit Bat, a reflection of her magnificent ears. She is the most loving, easy-going pup you can imagine, and was born around the end of July, 2016. Gigi loves cats, playing with Chloe and Dodger, sleeping on heat vents, cuddles, and living the good life!
ALBUS
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore came to the farm on September 25, 2021 from the SD& G OSPCA. He is half Flemish Giant with a beautiful chinchilla coat! He is deeply, madly in love with our rabbit Winnifred. Fortunately, both of them are fixed and can’t procreate!
Albus doesn’t love being picked up, but he will sit in your lap for cuddles! He loves extra-large carrots as a treat.
HANNAH
This delightful Tortie girl came to us in January 2021, after I discovered her as a kitten in a barn on January 23, 2021. Her eyes were badly infected and glued together with pus; I tried to walk past her, but couldn’t ignore her suffering, and so she came home with us.
It turned out one of her corneas had ruptured and she had a bad infection in both eyes. While this has permanently damaged her vision, she healed up better than we’d hoped, as initially the vet though he would have to remove her worst eye.
Not long after I got her, Hannah decided to jump from the ground onto my desk, slipped, fell backwards, and broke her hind leg, which then needed a pin surgically inserted in it. She had a pretty tough start to life, but you’d never know it from her sweet and calm personality.
We finally got Hannah all healed up and she is doing great! She is at risk of glaucoma due to her eye issues, so she has her eye pressure and blood pressure checked every three months. Recently her eye pressure increased to the point that she now needs eye drops three times a day for life. She is amazingly good about this, and her eye pressure has returned to normal since we started the drops.
Hannah is spunky, fearless, confident, affectionate and has a chirpy little trill of a purr that is incredibly endearing. She was also born with half a tail (with a crook at the end!) which makes her extra unique and adorable.
I don’t for one minute regret bringing my little Hannah Banana home from the barn that day.
PEACHES
Peaches is our permanent foster cat. She was born in 2012. She’s being cared for on a long-term basis by our friend Sharron. If Peaches didn’t hate other cats, she’d be living here at the farm.
This feisty dilute Calico arrived at the farm on August 22, 2018, along with a princely donation of $7 towards her care… needless to say, the cost of Peaches’ care has run into the thousands of dollars. For starters, she went on a hunger strike after first arriving here, then went into cardiac arrest when I took her to the vet. Fortunately she was revived and survived, however we soon discovered that Peaches had a hyperthyroidism. We attempted to control it with meds before having radioactive thyroid treatment performed at the DMV Montreal in 2021. This was extremely costly but mostly affective; however since then, she has had to go back on medication. For now, we are staying the course with that, although she may require further treatment at the DMV in the future.
Peaches has mellowed somewhat over the years but still has a saucy side to her. Her vets call her “spicy.”
Good thing she’s beautiful! Peaches is currently being sponsored by our wonderful friend Beccy, but she would certainly love more sponsors!
LOUISE
I write the OSPCA Pet of the Week ads published by our local paper. Gordon's business regularly sponsors these ads. In September 2013, one of the ads featured an adorable kitten named Louise... guess who adopted her before the ad even went to print?
Louise likes to sleep on the kitchen windowsills, which is why we can't have pretty things there anymore. When she's ready for a cuddle, she will meow incessantly at your feet until you oblige her. She has the most beautiful thick grey fur.
If you pet Louise the way she likes it, she drools. A lot.
LUTHER
This guy doesn't fit in my lap anymore! He is Ophelia's only son. He is a sweet, mellow guy who is always up for a belly rub. He has the nicest piggy smile!
He now has a nice set of tusks and manly forehead wrinkles. His sisters like to boss him around. He's a lover, not a fighter.
BUTTON
Daughter of Ophelia. Hell on wheels, er, trotters. Likes to escape into the garden, especially when it's muddy, resulting in humans flying through the air and landing face-first in the dirt. Has also made the farm vet do a faceplant in the pig pen. Notorious.
JERSEY
This little piggy was born May 24, 2014. The SD&G OSPCA shelter manager sent me a message asking if we knew anyone who wanted a piglet, knowing full well who that "someone" would be. Jersey has been a wonderful addition to our little herd. She used to live in an apartment in Cornwall. Now she lives with 11 other pigs and has three acres of pasture! Her best friends are Henry and Patrick.
PATRICK
In July 2016, we adopted Patrick from the Société protectrice des animaux de l'Éstrie in Sherbooke, Quebec (along with Bert the Alpine goat kid.)
Patrick used to live in a house, until he was attacked by a dog and as a result, stopped using his litterbox. He was labelled "dirty" and went through several failed attempts at rehoming. Finally he was surrendered to the SPAE, and eventually taken into foster care by one of their wonderful volunteers. But her trio of rescue pigs didn't like Patrick, so he really needed a forever home. And now he's here!
Patrick is a very friendly, kind pig who has fit into our herd very easily. Here he can be as "dirty" as he wants. Really it's a myth that pigs are dirty animals; they are actually very clean, will poop in only one area of a pen, and wallow in mud to cool off when it's hot, as they don't have sweat glands. We have plenty of mud, lots of pasture to eat, and dirt to root around in. We're happy to let pigs just be pigs, and Patrick is one of the herd now.
CHLOE
Chloe came to us from Jamaica via Eastern Ontario Potcake Rescue. A wonderful lady name Dionne rescued Chloe and her brothers after their Mama was hit and killed by a car. Chloe was tiny and emaciated, and Initially they thought her legs were broken because she was unable to walk, but it turned out she was just malnourished. With medical care and TLC, she has recovered completely from her rough beginnings and now runs like a whippet. We adopted Chloe along with her buddy Dodger on October 29, 2016. She was born in April 2016.
PEPPER and SALT
These two delightful Pygmy goat boys joined the herd on January 18, 2017. Their owner couldn't keep them anymore, but they were well cared-for and well-loved. The boys are brothers born on Valentine's Day, 2012. They have calm, sweet personalities and beautiful markings. Pepper is bolder than his brother Salty! They have befriended Bert the little Alpine goat and like to hang out with him around the hay feeder.
WENDY
This absolutely delightful creature is Wendy. She arrived at the farm on October 3, 2021 as a five-month-old blood-thirsty kitten. She was born near a dumpster in a Cornwall parking lot, and had had little if any human contact. Not long after her arrival here, she sank her fangs into my upper arm, right through my shirt and sweatshirt (which did just stop her teeth from breaking my skin, although I had impressive bruising!)
When Wendy came, I figured she was feral and had no frigging clue what I’d do with her. I had her spayed and vaccinated, and optimistically dreamed of some cat-besotted farmer rushing to snatch her up for vermin control.
This, naturally, did not happen. The cat-besotted farmer is me, and Wendy was installed in our barn. And eventually, Wendy CRACKED.
Has she EVER come a long way! She will now come to people for pets, and you can actually lift her off the ground briefly without bloodshed. She has a very delicate and sweet meow, and is deeply in love with her murder-faced doppelgänger, Gary. I feel certain they are related, but hopefully not TOO closely related, because you know, the boyfriend/girlfriend thing and all that. We did not need another barn cat, but nobody told Wendy that.
EMERSON
This cutie showed up in our barn on May 10, 2014. Now he's neutered and living the good life. He was between 6 - 8 months old when we found him. Super adorable cuddle-monkey with the biggest, er, cat family jewels we've ever seen. Until his neutering, we called him "Mr. Giant Nut Man." We are sure he was dumped here. He has made himself right at home! We once saw Emerson nail a giant rat in the barn, take it to a box stall, and eat the entire thing in ten minutes. Yes, even the tail.
Emerson likes to suckle fingers. We think he was taken from his mama too young. When he is in the mood, he will pester you until you give up and offer him your pinkie, at which point he will close his eyes and blissfully nurse in your arms. I suppose we should have broken him of this habit, but he's very insistent, and it's such a little thing to do to make him happy. He prefers lady-fingers to chubby, hairy man-fingers!
GERTRUDE SWINE
Gertie is one of Ophelia's five daughters. She has lots of attitude and likes to lord it over her siblings. She was an adorable piglet and has grown up to be a beautiful pig. She has a little black on the top of her nose. Gertie is confident about her place in the herd, and her right to steal apples away from the other pigs.
DAHLIA
Another of Ophelia's offspring. Small, sweet, no trouble at all. The antithesis of her sister Button. Enjoys hanging around in the mud with the other black pigs!
RUDY
The boss pig, no question. Rudy was seen running loose in a ditch in Lancaster, Onatrio in February 2015. Some kind OPP officers noticed him and managed to catch him by throwing their coats over him! One officer put the pig in his squad car and phoned our OSPCA shelter in Cornwall to let the manager know he was bringing in a pig, but that the pig looked hungry, so he was stopping at Tim Hortons first to get him a cheese bagel... which he did!
Later we were told that Rudy had been on the run for several weeks, with numerous pig sightings, all this in the dead of winter. Talk about a survivor!
Rudy had to stay in foster care until spring, when we were finally able to take him in. It was bitterly cold that February, and Rudy suffered frostbite to his ears and tail. Sadly, the end of his tail dropped off soon after we got him, but it didn't take him long to establish himself as top pig in the herd, even with just half a tail! He loves belly rubs, but does not suffer fools gladly. He was born sometime in 2014.
BERT
In July 2016, we adopted Bert the Alpine goat kid from the Société protectrice des animaux de l'Éstrie in Sherbooke, Quebec (along with Patrick the pot-bellied pig.) Bert and his buddy Ernie had a horrible start to life. When Bert was a week old and Ernie a day old, they were literally dumped on the shelter's doorstep in terrible condition. The shelter's awesome vet took them home and nursed them back to health. They were also able to suckle off the vet's lactating goat. We were going to adopt both kids, but sadly little Ernie died unexpectedly a few days before we were to get him. But Bert is one tough little dude and is doing great here at the farm! He follows us everywhere and is strong, smart, and fearless. He has an adorable personality. Bert was born sometime in May 2016, and has fit in well with our existing herd of rescue goats! He is an excellent climber and we sincerely hope he won't start vaulting over the fences anytime soon.
DODGER
This beautiful boy was left for dead in a ditch after being hit by a car, his rear left femur shattered. You can see the long scar on his leg in the photo above! Fortunately, some kind person rescued him and took him to The Animal House Jamaica, where he underwent surgery to insert pins in his broken bone. Dodger needs more physiotherapy and may possibly need more surgery at some point, but right now, things look great. When you see him tearing after Chloe, you would never know he'd suffered such a traumatic injury to his leg. We adopted Dodger along with his friend Chloe on October 29, 2016. He was born in February 2016.
SIMON
This handsome paint mini-donkey came to the farm on June 13, 2021 at the age of 5, after being rescued from the meat truck by the awesome people at Stoneridge Stables and Rehoming Centre.
Simon was a little shy at first, and had clearly been treated roughly in his former home, but it didn’t take him long to relax and let his beautiful, gentle, true self show. His absolute best friend on earth is our other donkey, Saul. Simon is a good boy for the farrier and the vet, but sometimes will make you work to catch him outside. Just helping us get our exercise in! He’s sweet as can be and has very soulful eyes. Like Saul, he enjoys Scotch mints and black licorice as treats.
ARTEMIS
This very special tripod kitty was rescued by my friend Liz. Some absolute monster shot her in the front leg when she was a kitten. She ran around Vankleek Hill for weeks with a horribly-injured leg before Liz was finally able to catch her and bring her to me on
November 28, 2018. Unfortunately, her front right leg could not be saved at the point, so the vet amputated it, and Artie’s life has been getting better and better ever since.
Artie is still very shy and distrustful of people, but if you offer her a treat, you may be able to get in a pet or two. Artemis adores other cats, especially her pals Fanny, Taya and Pip. Her boyfriend is big fluffy Steve. She’s sweet and quiet and loves to sleep in a ray of
sunshine. She’s also extremely playful, and loves bat around a catnip mouse. We’re so grateful to Liz for saving Artemis and bringing here.