On Saturday, the Good Life Refuge farm will host a virtual tour to kick off Thanksgiving celebrations with a humane approach to the festivities.
At 2 p.m., the sanctuary’s founder, Nicole Brecht, will take participants through an one-hour tour of the Good Life Refuge, which will culminate in a Living Thanks celebration with the facilities’ two turkeys.
“We will meet all our (farm) residents. I’ll explain where (the animals) came from,” said Brecht, president of the nonprofit organization. “We have 56 animals on site and 11 different species.”
The Good Life Refuge, founded in 2018, is home to abused and at-risk animals and seeks to increase awareness of a “plant centric nutritional lifestyle,” according to its website.
Tom and Ankara, the only two turkeys in the sanctuary, will take center stage for Saturday’s celebration, except not in the usual way.
“Together, we will celebrate the lives of these two turkeys,” she said. “We’ll celebrate with a little feast with them instead of feasting on them.”
Ankara, who was found wandering a Berthoud neighborhood in November 2019, is the real inspiration behind this year’s Living Thanks event, Brecht said.
“I have to admit, when I got Ankara I did not mean to (bring) a turkey in (to the sanctuary)”, she said. “But when I saw everybody looking at it as Thanksgiving dinner, it made me really sad. People didn't see a living creature lost in the streets … they wanted to eat it.”
An estimated 245 million turkeys are raised and killed every year in the United States, 46 million of which are killed for Thanksgiving meals, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
A vast majority of those turkeys are raised in industrial animal factories, according to the Food Empowerment Project, many of which engage in controversial practices for the mass production of turkey meat.
“The event serves as a reminder of ways to do Thanksgiving differently, without taking a life,” Brecht said. “These guys are quite interesting, (turkeys) can be super sweet and super naughty.”
Goats roam at the Good Life Refuge in Longmont.(Courtesy photo)“I’ll showcase a way to still have great Thanksgiving food without cruelty,” she said. “I’ll showcase to people these guys have emotions, they love their lives as much as we do ours.”
As a vegan, Brecht serves a plant-based Tofurkey ham every year on Thanksgiving, something she and her family enjoy, she said. “I order from Mama’s Tofu in Fort Collins. They have two roast types that can be preordered for Thanksgiving,” she said, adding the Good Life Refuge, as part of its Compassion Toolbox, offers a variety of plant-centric resources on its website.
Beyond an opportunity to celebrate and raise awareness about the Good Life’s mission, the Living Thanks event also will serve as a chance to raise funds to keep the work going, Brecht said.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced onsite tours and events at the sanctuary to halt, which are the main source of income for the organization.
While Saturday’s event is free to attend, Brecht said participants will have the option to make donations to be entered into a raffle.
“Anybody who donates to us will be entered on a raffle for an in-person tour for one family,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to walk through the center and meet the animals in person.”
To register for this event, click here. To enter the raffle for an in-person family tour, donate here.
For more information about the Good Life Refuge's mission, visit the website.
From left, Ankara the turkey, Rosalie the cow, The Good Life Refuge founder Nicole Brecht and Pickles the potbellied pig.(Photos courtesy of The Good Life Refuge)
