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Do you ever wonder what life is like for the animals at Farm Sanctuary? Would you like to hear the stories of how they got here. . .in their own words? Here in our Diaries section of the website, you can get a sneak peek into the lives of a few of the rescued animals who live at Farm Sanctuary. Check back often for updates! April 15, 2008 Now, you might be wondering why I’m still campaigning, since I found out a few months ago that I am running unopposed. Well, that’s just the kind of steer I am! I wouldn’t let tiny details like having no opponent spoil my plans to be the best candidate I can be. And by this fall, when I am inaugurated, I know I’ll have the best presidential plan that this pasture has ever seen. Do you have any ideas for my campaign? Be sure to e-mail me and let me know about them! In the meantime, I am enjoying this beautiful time on the farm. This is the perfect season to be a cow or steer, because the grass is high and GREEN! I could spend all day grazing in that delicious grass. Did you know that we cattle have four “chambers” in our stomachs? The chambers help us digest our food slowly and get the best nutrients out of it. It’s a perfect system for eating grass, and boy do we love doing that! Just today, my friend Fritz found a secret patch of grass on the north part of the pasture, so we snuck off and had a quick snack, and no one was the wiser! I’m telling you, spring is the BEST! Well, it’s time to get back on the campaign trail. Don’t forget to write me with your ideas. I need slogans, pictures and other ideas for how to get the word out about my presidential plans. Have a great day, and vote for Mario!
Well, I got all my thoughts together and went up onto the west hill, where we were going to meet for the debate. I shook a lot of hooves, kissed some calves and told everyone what a good president I would be. Then I gave my opening speech (which was about being thankful for our home and the alfalfa we get every day) and when it was time for my opponent to speak, I realized something… no one else is running! Can you believe it?! I have spent so much time campaigning that I didn’t even realize I was running unopposed! Now I am feeling a lot more confident about winning. I also know that no matter what happens, I want to make big changes for our pasture, so I am still hard at work, letting everyone know how much I care about the herd. Chrissie, my campaign manager, says I will be the best President of the Pasture yet! She’s probably right, since I will be the first. Thanks for reading, everyone! And vote for Mario! April 17th, 2007 Well, my devoted readers, you're probably wondering how my campaign for President of the Pasture is going! Phew! I don't think I have ever shaken so many hooves in my whole life. I have been campaigning in every part of the pasture, trying to get other cattle to vote for me. Chrissie (my campaign manager) and I have a couple new slogans: “Little Steer, Big Changes!” and “Mario Will STEER You on the Right Course!” Sure, I'm a small steer, and some of the other cattle tend to follow the big cows and steers around, but just because I am little doesn't mean I won't make a great president! If you come visit the shelter any time soon, be sure to spread the word and tell other cattle to vote for me! Other than the campaign trail, I don't have much big news. The shelter is just beautiful this time of year, with green grass, golden fields and sparkling blue sky. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the cattle or moo-oo-oo-ing! I love the Spring! You should come visit and take a tour! The California Shelter has opened for tours, and lots of people are coming in and saying hello. I just love visitors. Well, I better get back to work and play. Talk to you soon. And vote for Mario! February 28, 2007
• Get more hay every day
January 1, 2007 • Eat more hay Tonight, we are going to have a big party. All the cows are invited, and we're hoping the donkeys stop by the lake to mingle. Don't tell Dawn, but I got her a New Years present-it's some extra hay from my lunch! I guess I'll have to wait on that "eat more hay" resolution. Anyway, I better go get brushed so I look nice for the party. Happy New Year, everyone! November 11, 2006 • The caregivers. They bring me food every
day. They drive a tractor around our pasture and give us big bales
of hay. August 17, 2006 April 1, 2006 June 3, 2005 November 7, 2004 Spring 2004 September 15, 2003 I arrived at Farm Sanctuary on August 26, 2003, so as you can see,
I haven't been here very long. But, boy, am I glad to be here! Things
were awful before I came here - it's all a blur really. I don't remember
everything. But I know that my leg got hurt really badly somehow
on the farm I used to live at. It hurt so much that I cried out a
lot. Then, the next thing I remember, I was lying next to a pile
of garbage down by the road. There were - this is the worst part
- there were other cows lying there with me, but they were dead.
I'm not sure, but I think they just left me down there because they
wanted me to die too. I called out for my mom because I was SO hungry,
but she wasn't there. No one even came to give me water, even though
it was pretty hot outside.
April 1, 2008
Well, it’s feeding time, so I need to go down to the barn and grab some fresh alfalfa. But be sure to stop by this visitor season at the California Shelter and say hello. I’d love to meet my readers! Until then, have a good month, and be kind to animals! October 3, 2007 So, here's my plan: I'm going to get up early and watch the goats milling around. You know, study their moves. See what makes them “tick.” I'm going to watch them eat, drink and take naps. And I am going to carefully study how they butt heads to play. I still don't get that! Why not just go and find your own alfalfa instead of play-fighting over the same portion of alfalfa? Okay, so maybe there are some things about goats that I'll never understand, but I love them anyway! So, after all that studying, I think I can pull off a convincing “goat.” What do you think? If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know! Until then, you can find me hanging out on the hill at the California Shelter—and sometimes hiding behind a barn door so I can take notes on those mysterious goats.  Here's me, au natural.  And here's Ramona Goat. Don't we look like we could be related? Happy Halloween, everyone! May 12, 2007 March 17, 2007
Thanks for reading my updates. If you ever have any questions for me, you can e-mail me and I'll try to answer! Have a happy Spring! February 1, 2007 December 1, 2006 Anyway, it's been a pretty nice Autumn here at Farm Sanctuary. We had our last tour on Saturday, so I made sure I got to be petted by lots of people before they all go away for the winter. Guess what happened in November! A bunch of people came for something called the Celebration FOR the Turkeys, and all these people came in to say hi to me! People of all sizes and shapes came in and petted me and asked where I came from. Some really nice volunteers told them all about my life before I came here, and about where the other sheep and goats came from. At first, it was a little scary (I mean, there were over 200 people!), but after a while, I started to think it was pretty nice, so I nuzzled up to some of the visitors for pets and good long scratches behind my ear.
April 3, 2006 May 2005 March 30, 2005
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November 20th, 2007
That's mostly what I have been up to, but I am also enjoying the
sun coming out lately! It's been raining a lot lately, and that means
I get really muddy. The morning after it rains, I ask my friends
to groom me and get the mud off of me, and we have a big grooming
party. And at night we all huddle in the barn to get out of the rain.
But now that it's nice and sunny, we can stay out in the pasture
all night and appreciate the sunshine! Now everything is nice and
green, and I have a lot of grass to eat, which is even better than
hay! I hope you come and visit me in April, when the California Farm
Sanctuary tours start again. But if not, I'll always be here, writing
my diary. You can even write in and ask me questions! Just click
here and e-mail me. Talk to you soon!
Just when I think life can't get any better, our farm opens up to
visitors and lots and lots of friendly people come to give me hugs
and kisses. As you can imagine, it's been a very busy summer for
me so far. I've not only been working hard to show people that
cattle are special and in need of protection, but I've also been
trying to put a smile on the face of everyone I meet. Thankfully,
I have a lot of irresistible charm, so this really isn't that hard
to do. If people don't fall in love with me immediately, I just
chew on their clothes or hair, give them a slobbery kiss or nudge
their tummies until they do. I don't mean to brag, but I also know
for a fact that I'm well-loved because I've had my photograph taken
more times than I could ever count. Fortunately, I don't mind and
I always take a moment to pose for a quick snapshot with a new
friend. Well, it looks like some nice people are coming right now,
so I've got to run and greet them. Talk to you more later. 
Big news! Big news! Today, the little herd I've been living in for
a while got integrated into the main herd of cattle that lives
at the sanctuary. This was a big deal because I had never met all
of the other cows who live here before - mainly because I was so
small and my caregivers were worried about my leg. But today I
got to meet ALL of them. I was kind of anxious at first, because
I wasn't sure how I'd fit in with everybody, but I guess you could
say I found my place. Here's a picture of me with La Nina, one
of the biggest, bravest, and most beautiful cows I have ever seen.
This picture was taken right after I met her for the first time.
She wasn't too into me then, I had to be persistent! Isn't she
beautiful?
Hi! Welcome to my diary. My friends here call me Mario, so you can
call me that too. I'm just a young calf - about 1 month old - so
I'm not sure I have that much to say. . . but hopefully you'll
enjoy reading my diary anyway. 
I was only at the sanctuary for a short time, though, and then I
had to go to the hospital. The doctors at the hospital fixed my leg
- they said it was badly broken. After they fixed me, they put a
big cast on my leg to help it heal. I think it looks kind of funny
on me, don't you? Anyway, I've been wearing the cast for two weeks
now - and it's not very fun! But my caregivers at Farm Sanctuary
are helping me learn How To walk and they carefully exercise with
me at least two times each day. Hopefully I'll be totally healthy
soon!
When I was born, my mom didn’t have enough milk to feed me. It would have been nice if the people who owned the farm where I lived had fed me, but they didn’t. Instead, they let me get sick and skinny. If it weren’t for a kind person who rescued me and took me to Farm Sanctuary, I probably would have died! Just imagine how many other sheep and animals aren’t taken care of the way they should be. They don’t get to enjoy the warm sun, the green grass or the beautiful sounds of Spring. What a lucky little lamb I was!
Woo hoo! Guess what, everybody! Some nice people came and gave me a haircut and now I am nice and cool. I asked my caregiver friend Jamie what they're going to do with my fur, and she said they'll put it on the mountains behind my pasture, and birds will come and use it for nests. Isn't that nice? One of the hens who lives at the sanctuary told me that she loves to make nests. She lives in the chicken barn, and she builds a nest with the straw Jamie gives her, and then she lays in it and keeps all warm and cozy while she lays eggs. I am glad my fur is going to help some nice bird be warm and cozy!
Wow! I forgot how warm it gets here in California during the spring!
This winter has been really chilly, but it looks like we're going
to have a hot summer this year! Well, you're probably wondering
what's been happening since I last wrote. We moved pastures, which
is great! I love the new scenery. We're now in the Cow Barn. I
know, I know. It sounds confusing to have the sheep and goats in
the Cow Barn, but the cows wanted a change of scenery, too, so
they're out in a new pasture! Everyone really likes being out here.
The field is huge and we can run and play whenever we want. Just
today, Chili the goat was running and kicking up his heels-he was
practically doing cartwheels, he was having such a good time! If
you look at the picture of our new pasture, you can see Chili off
to the left, doing his happy dance.
Like I said, it's getting pretty hot here. I hope we get a nice
trim soon. Did you know that sheep in nature wouldn't even have to
get trimmed? Humans have used breeding to make us have a lot more
wool than we are supposed to! Well, at least I am taken care of here,
and I always get a nice hair cut every spring so I can keep cool.
It makes me very thankful that I don't live on a big factory farm!
Guess what, everybody! I have a Valentine! I just learned that a
Valentine is someone who is very special to you, and you can celebrate
him or her in February. Well, I have someone who's very special
to me. Her name is Persia. She is the prettiest sheep I have ever
seen. You probably know all about Persia from my diary. We both
had sad lives before we came here, but now we're as happy as can
be! I always talk to her about how nice it is here and how happy
I am, but she's a lot less talkative than I am, so she usually
just listens. When I gaze up into those pretty brown eyes, I just
can't help but baaaaa on and on. I hope you get to come and visit
Farm Sanctuary and meet Persia. She loves guests. Come to think
of it, so do I! I guess we're made for each other.
Boy! It is getting a lot colder around here! I am glad I have my
warm wool coat to keep me nice and toasty this winter. I heard
that some sheep don't even get to keep their wool during the winter!
Some mean people take their wool away and sell it! That doesn't
seem fair to me. 
Then, guess what happened today! One of the caregivers told me I
am in Farm Sanctuary's new calendar! I don't know what exactly that
means, but I know that lots of people are going to see pictures of
me and hear how I came to Farm Sanctuary. I'm a star! Anyway, I want
to go tell the others, so I'll write again later. Happy holidays!
Hey, guess what? I've been here at Farm Sanctuary now for just over
one year! I can't believe it. (Look at this picture of me - it's
pretty recent! Haven't I gotten huge?) Time has gone by so fast.
Persia and I are best friends and life couldn't be better! Nowadays,
we spend most of our time wandering the green pastures here and
nibbling on grass. We hang out with the other sheep and goats everyday
and run around whenever we get the chance. Persia and I are definitely
the youngest members of the flock, so the others aren't as crazy
and active as we are. . .but that's okay. We learn a lot from them.
Tomorrow, if it's not raining, I think we're going to go take a
turn standing on top of the rock pile the caregivers made for us.
Usually the goats are up there playing "king of the world," but
maybe we'll get our chance tomorrow.
Hi, my name is Bleu. I just arrived here at Farm Sanctuary four days
ago. I am a five-week-old lamb. I was born at a farm that raises
sheep for meat, but I was a twin. My mom couldn't take care of
both me and the other baby. . .and I guess the farmer man couldn't
take care of me either, or didn't want to. He was going to sell
me at auction, I think, but then a kind couple saved me. I lived
with them for a while, but they told me they wanted me to live
somewhere where I could have other sheep friends. That sounded
great to me! They drove many long hours to get me here to Orland,
California. And here I am now. I miss my old people friends who
saved me, but I am learning to love the people here, too. They
are so kind to me!
Some people think I'm weird, and you might too, but I like to sleep
in strange places. I don't just want to sleep in the straw they give
me here. I prefer to sleep in my food bowl. Hey, don't knock it 'till
you try it! It's actually very comfortable.