The Barn Sanctuary safe home for farm animals in need (with slideshow)

By Lisa Carolin

Penny, a pig, was kept in a dog crate in a New Jersey garage and was found by the local branch of the Humane Society.

Another pig named June was found in a barrel and had pneumonia and eye infections.

The swine are currently living at The Barn Sanctuary in Sylvan Township, which provides animal care and a safe home for animals to live out the rest of their natural lives.

Mike is a cow surrendered to the sanctuary by a local farmer. He is partially blind with cataracts in both eyes, and thanks to the Barn Sanctuary had muscle deformities fixed with physical therapy and splints.

The sanctuary paid to have retina reattachment surgery, unfortunately, it the procedure was unsuccessful.

These are just three of the stories of the farm animals that are now housed at The Barn Sanctuary.

“We also want the Barn Sanctuary be an educational space, so people can come meet the animals, and we want to make sure everyone feels welcome here, too,” said Kelly Holt, marketing and community outreach director. “Our goal is to set a new standard for how these animals are seen, treated and cared for,” she said.

And you can find out for yourself later this month at this fundraiser.    

The Barn Sanctuary will host a Barn Bash from June 15-17. It’s a weekend-long celebration to which donors and supporters are invited to visit the farm to see all the progress that’s been made and learn about the sanctuary’s mission.

Learn more at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/barn-bash-weekend-celebration-tickets-45236604903.

In August 2016, Dan McKernan filed for nonprofit status and rescued the Barn Sanctuary’s first two animals, calves Henry and Cora, now adult cows. Because he was living in Austin, Texas, where he worked full time at a tech job, his father, Tom McKernan, (now the Sylvan Township supervisor), cared for Henry and Cora.

Dan would fly back every two weeks.

“Dan and I moved to Chelsea and started full time in May of 2017,” said Holt, who added that they hired a full-time Animal Care Manager that summer named Christine Wagner.

Now the Barn Sanctuary has four team members and more than 40 volunteers. Dan McKernan is the founder and executive director, Tom McKernan is the farm operations manager, and Wagner is the animal care director and volunteer coordinator. It is located at 2019 McKernan Road in Sylvan Township.

“Most of our animals come from the worst-case scenarios or have critical health needs when they arrive,” said Holt. “We’ve had local farmers surrender animals with severe health concerns whom they can no longer care for. We’ve worked with rescue organizations to bring in animals who were abandoned, abused or neglected and in need of a home. Farm animals are the most abused group of animals in the world. We have far more requests for animal intake than we can manage, but we’re hoping to grow quickly so we can help more animals soon.” 

The Barn Sanctuary only takes farm animals, and can only take them if they have the resources and space to do so.

“We try to take in the animals who need it the most, the ones with critical health conditions, with no other option or hope,” said Holt.

The Barn Sanctuary was recognized on the Ellen DeGeneres Show as part of her “One Million Acts of Good!” feature and received a donation.

Currently, The Barn Sanctuary is working with a production company to explore the possibility of doing a television show.

After the Barn Bash, the sanctuary will be open for tours on Saturdays by reservation only.

For more information go to www.barnsanctuary.org.