((PKG)) GENTLE BARN
((TRT: 04:58))
((Topic Banner: Gentle Barn))
((Reporter/Camera: Genia Dulot))
((Map: Santa Clarita, California))
((Main character: 1 female))
((Sub characters: 1 male; 1 female))
((NATS:
Pumpkin time.
One, two, three.))
((NATS: Ellie Laks
You're so cute. Let me tell you how cute you are. Let me tell you. You don't want to hear it?))
((Ellie Laks
Founder, The Gentle Barn))
I met a chicken when I was eleven years old in my school and I knew that she was terrified and she was in the gymnasium in a cat carrier and she was shivering. I picked up on her immediately and went over to her, pulled her out of the cat carrier and started cradling her in my arms, telling her that she's going to be okay and that she's not alone and that I wouldn't let anything happen to her. The principal came in a few minutes later and said, "Stop petting the chicken. We've got to get her to the slaughterhouse." And it was then that I realized that chicken and rice is the same thing as chicken, the animal. And I was absolutely horrified. And I went home that day and I told my parents I would never eat animals again.
((NATS: Ellie Laks
Hi, everybody. Hi. Hi, sweetheart. You want to give me a kiss? You give good kisses, you guys.))
((Ellie Laks
Founder, The Gentle Barn))
And then as a young adult, I was living in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles and I saw a petting zoo I'd never seen before. What I found there was really horrific. There were dead animals in cages. There was no water even though it was very hot that day. They were beating the ponies to keep going round and round in circles and the whole scene was just an absolute horror show. And I was running for the door as fast as I could. And blocking the exit was a very old goat that looked like she was about to keel over any second. And she looked me in the eyes. She stopped me in my tracks and she asked me for help. And I brought Mary home and I called the vet out that helped remove her tumors and trim her overgrown toenails and teach me how to massage her deformed leg so she could walk again. A couple of months later, she was bouncing around my backyard as happy as can be. And it was the greatest feeling of my entire life. I just knew that that was what I was born to do. I started going back to the petting zoo for more animals that were suffering there. And before I knew it, the backyard was full of animals.
I opened it to public so people can come out and hug the cows and cuddle the turkeys and give the pigs tummy rubs. We had hundreds of people every Sunday come out and interact with the animals and hear their stories of resilience. Jay came into The Gentle Barn two years after I founded it as a volunteer.
((Jay L. Weiner
Co-Founder, The Gentle Barn))
I walked into this amazing place. So, you know, it was really easy to see her for the amazing person she was or is. I loved animals. I was always connected to them. I grew up with them. I think that when I came out to The Gentle Barn, I felt like I was at home.
((Ellie Laks
Founder, The Gentle Barn))
And a year later, we fell in love. And then Jay took us from that little half acre [2000 m2] backyard to a national organization. We now have three locations. Two facilities in Santa Clarita. We have another location in Saint Louis, Missouri and yet another one in Nashville, Tennessee.
((Cheyanne Weiner
Volunteer, The Gentle Barn))
When I was little, my parents told me this story. Obviously, I don't remember but when I was like three years old, I would just like run around just like naked all over the barnyard and I would like take baths in their water. This has always been like my go-to, fun place to be.
So this is the chicken that was raised in my house with us. He would cuddle right here every night and he would like reach his little neck up.
((NATS: Cheyanne Weiner
You want to do it again? What do you think? What do you think?))
((Cheyanne Weiner
Volunteer, The Gentle Barn))
We rescued him when he was only a week old. And so when they're that little, it's kind of dangerous to have them in the barnyard all alone because he was an orphan. We decided to have him in the house and we became like his adopted family.
((NATS))
((Cheyanne Weiner
Volunteer, The Gentle Barn))
My parents actually sat me down when I was little and said that it was kind of like my choice and I can do whatever I want. Honestly, that kind of grosses me out. I would never willingly eat meat, really, just because I don't have the craving for it. I don't have the need for it.
((NATS: Ellie Laks
Come here, honey. Come closer. Come closer. Come here. Hi.))
((Ellie Laks
Founder, The Gentle Barn))
This is Sun. She's our cuddle turkey in Los Angeles. So here are a few things that most people don't know about turkeys. Boy turkeys like to show off and they like to parade around demanding attention so everyone calls them handsome. But girl turkeys like to talk and they like to cuddle. Once a girl turkey trusts you, you can sit in front of them and just pet them. And eventually, they just close their eyes and fall asleep in our laps. Girl turkeys are every bit as affectionate, cuddly, loving and social as any dog or cat in anybody's home.
((NATS: Cheyanne Weiner
He's a gentleman. Isn't he gorgeous with his little underbite?))
((NATS/MUSIC))