Happy Endings, Please!

Wagner Farm in Glenview is a model across the country for how to run a demonstration farm. They have educational programs there for schools, and it’s a place where families can come to see the animals and have a good time. It has an idyllic feel to it and you get the feeling the animals are in good hands and have a home for life.

I’ve heard about this place. People say it’s a beautiful, educational, feel-good kind of place. In some circumstances, they give better care to their animals than other farms do, but what happens when the farm decides for whatever reason an animal no longer fits in or is needed there?

Lately, some questions have come up about the continued care of the animals. What happens when a cow gives birth to a male calf instead of a female that can be used for the milking program? What happens when animals get older and have spent enough time helping to educate and entertain the public over the years?

A lot of animals are bred at the farm. Eventually, some of these go to the county fair. Non-prize winners from 4H groups may go to slaughter or mutton rodeo - yuck! An unborn male calf is possibly slated to go to slaughter after its birth because it’s not a female they can use for their milking program!

Don’t the residents there deserve a safe retirement after their service? Shouldn’t a pair of draft horses who have lived together for 12 years be retired together instead of sold separately to the first bidders? Shouldn’t that newborn calf be given a chance at life in a new home rather than sent to slaughter for being born male?

Wagner Farm Rescue is a rescue organization founded to address just such issues at Wagner Farm. It was founded by Debby Rubenstein of Glenview in 2002.

Rubenstein has been trying for 8 years to work with the farm to develop programs that will not infringe on the rights and welfare of the animals. She offers sanctuary for animals that are no longer needed or wanted at the farm. It seems like a perfect solution, but her efforts have been met with spotty success and some resistance.

Wagner Farm, which is owned by the Glenview Park District on behalf of their taxpayers, picks and chooses when they want to work with her, according to Debby. Why not let her take on the responsibility for finding a sanctuary for these animals, arranging transportation and lifetime care? She would like to work with them on an ongoing basis to address the needs and continued welfare of the animals, but has been either rebuffed or told that her input is not needed or wanted.

It seems like an easy, feel-good solution. They already tell people who ask that they have a rescue that takes their retired animals, so why does she have to work so hard to get them to sign off on them? Why do they charge her full-market price?

The farm breeds a lot of animals. Increasingly, Rubenstein has been contacted by people who are alarmed to find that there's a good possibility the losers end up at slaughter auction at the fair, mutton rodeos, or sold for slaughter sometime after the fair!

Wagner Farm is run by the Park District and paid for largely by tax dollars. Let’s tell Wagner Farm that we want them to work with Rubenstein to recognize and uphold animal welfare and be financially responsible for the continued natural lifetime welfare of any animal that has been associated with their farm!

The website for Wagner Farm Rescue is www.wagnerfarmrescuefund.org

Here are some recent articles about Wagner Farm Rescue.

http://www.journal-topics.com/columns/rescuefund100324.html
http://www.journal-topics.com/columns/rescuefund100407.html