Q&A: Merrymac Farm Sanctuary in Charlotte Provides a Forever Home for Neglected Animals 

All the animals at Merrymac Farm Sanctuary in Charlotte have stories to tell. You can read their heartbreaking tales of neglect and abuse on the farm's website and social media channels. Luckily, the animals are in a better place now: Merrymac provides them with a safe, loving forever home.

Merrymac director Era MacDonald, a lifelong animal lover, founded the farm in 2016 and formalized it as a nonprofit sanctuary this past spring. She cares for more than 100 animals with the help of a squadron of volunteers and donations from supporters. Each horse, sheep, goat, pig and turkey has a name, and donors can choose to sponsor an individual animal.

Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger featured Merrymac Farm in a 2018 "Stuck in Vermont" video about youths from the King Street Center working with horses. That episode highlighted the sanctuary's focus on education, which now regularly includes Open Barn Days to introduce the public to rescued animals.

In her latest episode of "Stuck in Vermont," Sollberger returned to the farm, where she spent Thanksgiving morning meeting the volunteer crew and the assorted collection of animals. Among other highlights, she watched the turkeys and pigs enjoy a special holiday meal that included cranberries and sweet potatoes.

The farm will hold Winter Wonderland Open Barn Days on Friday, December 8, and Saturday, December 9. Tickets can be purchased in advance at merrymacfarmsanctuary.org.

Sollberger spoke with Seven Days about filming the episode.

Why did you pick this farm?

I follow Merrymac on social media, and its posts about mistreated animals hurt my heart. For example, Honey is a mare who was seized by law enforcement from a home in Leicester in July with another horse named Romeo. Honey was skin and bones, and no one was sure if she would survive. The photos of her emaciated frame were painful to look at. MacDonald and her team of volunteers and vets worked diligently to get Honey to gain weight slowly and even got her teeth cleaned. You can barely recognize her now — she's a healthy, happy horse. Merrymac posted videos of Honey rolling in the grass and galloping through the barn and kicking up her heels. Really, I just wanted to meet Honey and the gang, and it seemed like a great way to spend Thanksgiving.

What interests you in animal stories like Honey's?

Like MacDonald, I'm an animal lover. I've covered many animal rescue groups over the years: Queen City Cats in Burlington, Otter Creek Wildlife Rescue in Addison, Ellen Jareckie and her wildlife hotline in Shelburne, Long Trail Canine Rescue in Wilder, Kitty Korner Café in Barre, and Vermont English Bulldog Rescue in Williston. I even shot a video at Kilham Bear Center in Lyme, N.H.

The aim of rescue organizations is to find a new home for abused or neglected animals, or to get them rehabilitated and released into the wild. So those are slightly different from a sanctuary, where the animals remain permanently. The people who run all these operations are hardworking and passionate. The need for help is always greater than the available resources. Merrymac gets endless calls for assistance. Meanwhile, it's spending $25,000 on hay each year. Caring for animals properly is not cheap, and there is a real risk of burnout.

You saw some cute turkeys on Thanksgiving.

June was roosting on the fence when I first met her, and she has such a sweet disposition. June and Emory were day-old, sickly meat birds who were rescued from a feed store and nursed back to health. Tom and Jerry are gobblers, and they strut their stuff with Emory, displaying their impressive tail fans. Their dangling red snoods — the floppy flesh that hangs over their beaks — are something to behold. They're like yo-yos and can be pulled upward and then released, depending on the bird's comfort level. I even got to pet Tom's soft, red, bumpy head. I am not a vegetarian, but I don't think I could have gone home to eat turkey after meeting these four unique personalities.

Merrymac seems like a fun place to visit.

The cacophony of sounds was really entertaining. The sheep baa, horses nicker, donkeys bray, ducks quack and a posse of snorting pigs explores the ground searching for treats. It was so fun seeing all the different species interacting with each other. Jerry the turkey loves his duck harem, and rumor has it that he thinks he is a duck. Piglet is a small pink pig who visits all the horses. I caught him saying hello to Honey in her pen. The other pigs are much larger and ramble around like dogs with their tails wagging. A soft white cat named Calvin followed me around and gave me head bumps. In other words, I was in heaven.

Sounds like you made some new friends?

These animals all have such distinct personalities. Eli the pig wags his tail almost constantly. He is a happy and industrious fellow. When I first met him, he had found his way into the food storage room and was helping himself to treats. Coco the sheep needs eye surgery; she likes to express herself frequently with bellowing baas that echo through the barn. June the turkey is very zen — she escapes the tumult of the duck/turkey area to perch elegantly on the fence above them. Zydin, a former police horse, rolled around in some brambles and gave himself a stately crown of burrs. Volunteers were carefully brushing out his luxurious jet-black mane.

Spending time getting to know these creatures and caring for them regularly is incredibly rewarding for many of the volunteers. As much as this place is a refuge for animals, it is also a place where humans find sanctuary.