Now he snores snout-on-snout with Rosa-Mariechen, rescued seven years earlier from the corner of a feedlot, suffering from pneumonia and infected wounds from rat bites. Their stall mates, Eberhard and his son, Winfried, were rescued from a university research lab where experiments left them nearly deaf and blind. “One day I realized, it is the same thing that happens to the animals,” she said. Mr. Gerdes turned them back out to pasture and decided to leave them there, undisturbed, for good. Many guests wanted to donate to help support the animals, leading Mr. Gerdes and Ms. Mück to set up the Hof Butenland foundation that now serves as the financial backbone for their operations.

Source: New York Times July 10, 2021 16:30 UTC