Despite the devastating loss of several animals in a fire, operators of a local animal sanctuary are crediting the support of the public for helping them through the challenging time.
Overnight Thursday, a fire broke out at Charlotte’s Freedom Farm, located on Brook Line in Chatham-Kent. The blaze claimed the lives of at least ten animals including Wyatt, a rescue dog from Texas, a miniature pony named Forrest as well as five cats and several ducks.
Meaghan Marton, a volunteer at the farm, said the team has been trying to keep its spirits up despite the tragedy, adding that receiving the news was devastating and traumatic.
"I was in complete shock when I woke up in the morning to that message that the barn had burnt down. It was kind of unbelievable that it had happened until I was there in person and saw it. I know our whole team kind of felt that way," she said."It's been difficult to think about the animals that have passed because of [the fire] but we are really grateful for the animals that have been saved. The hardest part is focusing on the positives in a situation like this. Overall, it has been really, really hard. "
As Charlotte’s Freedom Farm team, which Marton describes as a close-knit family, comes to terms with what happened, she said one source of healing and hope has been the outpouring of support from across the community and beyond.
According to Marton, the messages of encouragement started coming in almost immediately after news started spreading about the fire early Thursday morning. When Charlotte’s Freedom Farm made a post about what happened on Facebook, Marton said it reached tens of thousands of people and garnered hundreds of comments within hours.
Before she knew it, Marton said she could hardly keep up with all the kind words that people were sending the farm.
"At any given time there were 10, 20, 50 messages," she explained. "It's been crazy overwhelming to see the support."
Charlotte’s Freedom Farm used to operate in Lakeshore, however, founder Lauren Edwards purchased the Brook Line property in December 2019 and the animals were moved over in May 2020. All the animals on the property are rescued from the farm industry. Many come to the sanctuary with health problems or as orphans before being rehabilitated and allowed to live freely.
With instant support from those in Chatham-Kent and Windsor-Essex, Marton said it wasn't long before news of the fire started to go international.
"We've gotten messages now from Germany, Japan, Hawaii, Madrid in Spain...We've had sanctuaries from all across North America and the world sharing and helping us spread the message," she said.
While holding back tears, Marton said the messages have made all the difference in the world while the team tries to heal.
"Every time I read the messages from people and how much they are extending their love and support to us, it's absolutely amazing. Especially just for a small sanctuary in the southern part of Canada."
The farm also got some support from Goats of Anarchy, a well-known sanctuary based out of New Jersey. Marton said the owner of Goats of Anarchy reached out to Charlotte’s Freedom Farm directly to let them know that they were teaming up with three other U.S. animal sanctuaries to start a GoFundMe to help with the costs of the fire.
Within five hours, the original GoFundMe goal of $10,000 was met. Within 48 hours, $23,000 had been raised from nearly 700 donors.
"What I love most about it is there are some people that are capable of donating $25, $100 and some people are donating $5 or $12 because that was their coffee money for the week. People really underestimate how far a dollar goes," said Marton.
Besides the loss of life and loss of the barn, Marton said that several pieces of vital equipment were also destroyed in the blaze. According to Chatham-Kent fire officials, the damage is estimated at $400,000. The fire is not considered suspicious and the cause is currently listed as “unknown.”
Marton said it's hard to predict what total costs will be once all is said and done.
As the operators deal with the logistics of what to do next, Marton said any money that is raised will be utilized in every way possible. Besides rebuilding, Marton added that there are still dozens of animals on the farm that need to be taken care of and kept safe.
"A barn just doesn't go up in a couple of days, it's going to take quite a while," she explained. "That money right now is going to be used for temporary housing for the animals and structures. Farm and sanctuary life is not cheap. It costs a lot of money in fencing and other structures. The money that we're raising right now is going to help tenfold with all the costs that are going to be acquired with what happened."
In addition to the GoFundMe, money is also able to be e-transferred to donations@charlottesfarm.ca. Besides monetary donations, Marton said people simply sending their positive energy and prayers means more to the team than anyone will ever be able to comprehend.
"Our mission is to rescue animals and to change the hearts and minds of people and how they view these farm animals. We know that this is not going to stop us from doing that. We're going to rebuild and be stronger," Marton said. "The fact that we have an even larger group of people supporting and pushing us forward is going to allow us to do even bigger things for these animals... Unfortunately, tragedy usually brings people together and it's very hard to say there is some sort of silver lining in this situation. We are seeing the goodness in people."
-With files from Matt Weverink
