Welcome to a land of creature comfort…
but the good life didn’t always start out that way
BY WIB MIDDLETON
It’s an unusually warm October day in Northeast Washington, DC, and police are getting calls. The year is 1998. A huge, triple-decker livestock truck with North Carolina plates has been parked on a street just off North Capitol for close to 24 hours. Inside scores of pigs are screaming in fear. Packed cheek to jowl with little ventilation, their stench has begun to waft through the neighborhood. The truck has been abandoned, cab locked with keys inside. The police arrive. Animal Control shows up. Everyone is shocked by the gruesome scene—some pigs are dead, others have broken legs and wounds from climbing over each other.
In the pastoral countryside of Montgomery County—45 miles and a world away—Terry Cummings gets a call at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary. It’s Animal Control. She and husband Dave Hoerauf had recently cofounded the Sanctuary. “We were in the farm animal rescue business a little over 18 months and growing slowly. We only had eight pigs cared for in half of a barn at the time,” Terry recalls.
Animal Control had called all the farmers in the area and were at a loss. No one was willing to take 100 pigs. They had to find a staging area right away, contact the owner and get the pigs transported to their destination—presumably a slaughter house. On the phone Terry was adamant, “We will not be a holding facility for a slaughter house!”
Animal Control assures Terry that in fact they are going to press cruelty and abandonment charges against the owner. Terry relents and agrees to put them up temporarily in the Sanctuary’s four-acre pasture.
The tractor-trailer and locked cab get towed to Poplar Spring. “It took 20 hours to unload the pigs. We literally had to build a ramp to get them off the top floor of the truck. Neighbors pitched in, bought lumber and worked through the night. No one slept. One by one, every terrified pig was pulled out. After we got them all out safely, the most amazing thing happened. They started looking up at the sky. Because they were raised in a factory farm, they had never seen open sky before and were in complete awe. I vowed to myself in that moment that nothing bad would ever happen to these pigs again.”
Terry and Dave went into high gear reaching out to friends and volunteers for help. “We called the feed store and ordered a huge amount of food because it wasn’t 100 pigs—it was actually 171! A pig sanctuary in West Virginia helped us out with funding, ordering sheds, water troughs, and kindly advised us on care for so many pigs,” reports Terry.
Three days later, Terry gets a call from the Humane Society. The truck driver had been located. Intoxicated, he had wandered off and abandoned the truck. The owner of the pig farm had been contacted but could not be sued because he was not the negligent driver. And because the trucker did not own the pigs, there was no legal recourse. And the final blow: the pigs must be given back to the owner who is coming for them now with another truck, and there is nothing that can be done about it. Terry responded, “Well, I’m going to do something about it!” She heads to the Sanctuary gate, locks and barricades it.
The Humane Society calls the police who arrive at the gate and demand to have it opened. Terry wants to see a warrant. The police don’t have one. It’s a weekend, and Monday would be the first opportunity to get one. “At that point, we called our attorney, a friend and a volunteer with experience in animal law. She came right over.”
It wasn’t long before the owner of the pigs shows up at Poplar Spring with his attorneys in a big stretch limo. A rather hulking man, he starts right in, “I want my pigs back!” Terry remains cool. “No, you’re not getting them back.” Terry, Dave and their attorney have a plan. They know it’s all about the money—the basic value of the pigs to the owner—so they’ve estimated the value of all the care they’ve provided—the feed, bedding, sheds, everything. The cost is exorbitant. “You want the pigs? Pay the bill! Or sign over their custody and we won’t charge you a dime,” Terry proposes. The strategy worked. Documents were signed relieving the owner of any liability and the pigs were free to romp, play, eat grass, apples… and look up at the sky.
“Our lawyer took two pigs, the sanctuary in West Virginia took 100, and another in upstate New York took 40. We kept 22 at Poplar Spring. Everyone got to live out their life peacefully. The last one passed away at 17,” Terry beams.
A front-page article in the Metro section of the Washington Post generates more press and compassionate concern. Donations pour in from all over the country—every state and as far away as Japan and Germany. “That whole tragedy really was the beginning of our sanctuary. And we’ve been able to help so many animals ever since because of that singular event.”
Two decades later, Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary is firmly on the map and forever home to some 250 abandoned, abused and neglected farm animals—goats, sheep, cows, horses, chickens, turkeys…and pigs. Due to the remarkable generosity of a woman whose family owned the farm property since the Great Depression, and in conjunction with Maryland’s Rural Legacy Program, the Sanctuary will never be developed. It was gifted to the Sanctuary and will always remain a place of peaceful refuge for farm animals and wildlife fortunate enough to find their way there.
Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary is a pastoral gem with 200 acres of woods and 230 acres of rolling pasture land, barns, a fully restored 1776 farmhouse and outbuildings. Its two- and four-legged animal residents are a delightfully motley crew with a common experience. All overcame profound trauma and fear, and when loved and cared for, began to thrive.
“We work with Humane Societies up and down the East Coast. They rescue farm animals from abuse situations or cruelty cases. Often they involve a situation where numerous animals have already died, usually due to starvation,” says Terry. “We get animals coming from some of the worst scenarios you can imagine. Most of the animals are terrified of people when they first arrive. We work with them and over time they become trusting and loving. We respect the time it takes for that to happen—and it could be weeks or even years.”
Terry has witnessed the transformation that animals experience from fear to trust again and again. “None of them come here happy, tame or friendly. Watching them go from scared and shaking—where an outstretched hand could mean they are going to be hit—to the moment they allow you to pet them is truly amazing. You just see it in their eyes… they trust you. It’s the most rewarding experience and makes all the hard work worthwhile.”
“That whole tragedy really was the beginning of our sanctuary. And we’ve been able to help so many animals ever since because of that singular event.”
Terry and Dave are always looking for volunteers to help with the animals. With ten paid staff and over 100 volunteers it’s a big operation solely supported by donations. Terry likes to say that volunteering at the Sanctuary is “labor of love, and a lot of labor!” Transformation takes place among the volunteers, too. “A lot of our long-term volunteers—some have been coming from the very beginning 23 years ago—say this is a sanctuary for them as well. It’s the highlight of their week after a regular job.”
Visitors are always welcome at Poplar Spring on weekends from April through November and by appointment. “We love for people to enjoy how friendly all the animal residents are and to see how each one has its own distinct personality, like the 800-pound pig that rolls over to have his belly rubbed! Most people have never petted a cow or held a chicken. All you have to do is call them and they come running,” says Terry. “It’s really a great experience for animals and visitors alike, especially kids who learn about respect and compassion for all living beings.”
You can also book guided group tours and learn about where the animals have come from and what their circumstances were, like Quinn the turkey who still thinks he’s a human. Rescued as a little bird shivering alone in the woods, he began enjoying watching TV on the couch with his caregiver before ending up at the Sanctuary. Then there’s Evie, the three-legged goat. An emu stepped on her and broke her leg when she was only two weeks old. Unfortunately, it got infected and needed to be amputated. Her owner thought the best recourse was to shoot her—to the horror of the vets at University of Pennsylvania’s animal teaching hospital who contacted Poplar Spring. When asked if the Sanctuary would take the little goat post-surgery, a big yes from Terry and Dave resulted in Evie’s successful operation—and she does just fine these days on three legs. You’ll also hear the tale of Wee Wee the baby pig who fell off a truck in the middle of a blizzard and almost froze to death in a snow bank until he was spotted by passersby and brought to the Sanctuary. Now, four years later, he’s a happy, whopping 700-pound pig!
Visitors are often visibly moved by the stories of these animals overcoming terrible life situations that are now free, trusting and exuding love. It’s a happy place as Terry likes to say, and there are many ways to help by donating, volunteering, or sponsoring any of the farm animals that you can then visit and befriend. Every spring the Sanctuary hosts its “5K Run for the Animals” which raises vital funds needed to feed and care for its 250-plus rescued farm animals and wildlife that live there. In the fall there is the ever popular vegan Thanksgiving potluck with the Sanctuary’s rescued turkeys.
Undoubtedly time spent in the Ag Reserve in beautiful open spaces can be very healing. But to be in the presence of the loving farm animals at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary is, for many, a life changing experience. Just ask a volunteer!