Recently I went on a trip with several other students to Paris

Barns in Paris, Virginia. It's a lovely animal sanctuary with one

unique twist: they are the only sanctuary in Virginia to take in

farm animals. I don't know about anyone else but this shocked me.

Virginia has a high number of operating farms and that means

there must be hundreds to thousands of livestock animals. Yet

there is only one place in the entirety of the state that offers them a fate other than death after they have served their economic purpose. It was awful to hear that these farms had no respect for their prized animals.

      The trip only strengthened my love in rural communities. While talking to Martha, one of the owners, our group learned that the local legislation had tried to take away the lands and convert them back into an agricultural farm. If this had happened, the animals currently at Paris Barns would be euthanized. But the owners went to court and won the battle, proving to locals that the barns were not a waste of valuable lands.

      You're probably asking yourself, "So what? They're only keeping a minimal portion of the abused animals in the state from facing death." But, when you see the farm there's no longer any doubt that any saved animal is worth the effort. They might not have hundreds of animals but those animals they are able to save are truly prospering. There's Michael, a now seven year old limousine cow weighing over two thousand pounds, who couldn't be happier to come play tag with the tractor. And then there's Blackie who's a beautiful five year old goat who helped me assimilate into his family and proceeded to herd me across the field. In his mind, I was the weak link and I needed to be taken care of. It was heart warming to see him believe he was taking care of me when I was actually there to take care of him. The pure, unhindered level of compassion from these animals should be a lesson to us all.

      The importance of this trip is not only in the help we give to the animals. We are helped by the animals as much as vice versa. As we do our best to give them a good, clean place to live, they are imparting their wisdom on us as well. They teach us to be ever forgiving, compassionate, passionate, and to be cautious without ever loosing our ability to trust others. Thank you Audrey and Shaifali for reopening my eyes to this wonder of the world.