The November/December 2019 issue of Animals Voice Magazine featured the cover story, “Three Wise Men,” profiling three animals activists making tremendous contributions toward the improvement of animals’ lives. The interviews were conducted by Animals Voice Associate Editor Susan Barzallo. This is the third of the three. The first is of Founding Father Jim Mason. The second is of Activist Seb Alex.

On a beautiful fall morning, I drive several hundred miles north to Parksville, New York, for a visit with Todd Friedman and the residents of Arthur’s Acres Animal Sanctuary. When I arrive, I am met at the door not only by Todd, but by Lyle, the dog, and Max, the pig, both of whom live in the house.

Lyle was rescued from a kill shelter where he was labeled aggressive and scheduled to be put down. All he really needed was love and a good home and now he’s the official farm dog, overseer of operations, and by Todd’s side all day. He is a sweet and gentle companion. Baby Max fell off a transport truck and was found by the side of the road, sick and hungry. He was surrendered to the sanctuary and will now live a life of peace and happiness. Lyle and Max follow us around the sanctuary all morning while Todd and I chat with each other and all the residents.

After greetings and re-introductions (we had met briefly a few weeks prior), Todd takes me on a tour of Arthur’s Acres while describing his sanctuary life.

As soon as we walk around the back of the house I am struck by the expanse and beauty. Arthur’s is a gorgeous seventy-seven acres of rolling fields and dense forest. Brand new fencing surrounds several spacious pastures, bright new-and-rebuilt barns, and buildings.

But that is not how Todd found the property a year-and-a-half ago. On the Arthur’s Acres website, Todd describes how he found the place.

Upon arrival, we found out from the agent that the property had been used as a small-scale “farm to table” type facility. Pigs, goats and other small animals had been raised and slaughtered right here on the property. Like a real-time horror show. As he explained this to us, the property immediately showed its dark side. We began opening doors and came across remains of animals, decomposing birds, cutting tools, and bone saws. Blood stained the walls; windows were barricaded, letting in no light. The smell of death and urine was overwhelming in some areas. A deep chill went through me. So deep, I shuttered at the thought of its awful past.

The agent mentioned that there might be some animals still here, a pig maybe. I insisted we find him immediately. That is when I meet Arthur, a beautiful three-and-a-half-month old piglet who was locked in a holding pen with no fresh food or water—and no mother in sight. He came right to me, looking me in the face as if to ask my intentions. I knew it immediately. I am not leaving without this pig.’ Once the agent realized I was completely serious, we negotiated with the owner to surrender him to me. Then and there I knew this was the place. It felt as if all of the animals, past and present on this property, were calling to us in that moment and asking us to help them. Arthur was their face, their voice. We knew we could do just that. And so, the journey began.

Todd has owned many businesses, starting when he was just eighteen years old. He’s owned bagel shops, been a ski instructor, and a licensed massage therapist. Most recently, he owned a print shop in New Jersey. He also volunteered at a sanctuary on weekends for two years, and in the process became vegan. Then, he says, he felt like life was becoming “groundhog day” and he needed a change. He sold his store and took a job at an animal sanctuary, a job he kept and loved.

But after two years, Todd decided he wanted to create a sanctuary of his own. He had ideas of some different things he wanted to focus on. He began the search for properties in upstate New York. He told me, “I want the animals that no one will take. And we can help them thrive because we have the time; we have the patience to be with them. I could have a lot of animals today, I have the room, but I want to be sure to have the time to walk each animal through healing. I don’t expect to be a big place. I plan on being smaller and focusing on special needs animals.” When he found Arthur he knew he had the place to start.

Behind the main house, we come to an entirely brand new chicken pen that has just been built and meet Princess the pig—who pretty much has the run of the place as she is blind and very spoiled—hanging out there until the chickens move in. Princess was a breeding sow in a backyard breeding operation. Used for fourteen years, she never saw the sun, or felt grass under her feet. Todd enjoys letting her make up for lost time!

We continue on to the first barn where inside we are immediately greeted by Julia, the hen. She was removed from her owner (along with another hen, Margery) by animal control because she was tied to a tree and unable to access food and water. Todd has a long conversation with her while holding her and stroking her soft feathers. I pet her, too, but unfortunately I’m unable to make the chicken sounds Todd makes so well and Julia so obviously understands! Julia loves hanging out with pigs; we found her with Joy and Wren, two pigs surrendered from a laboratory. They have scars all over their backs from product testing, and additionally, tattoos marking the testing spots. They run for Todd and enjoy his love and kisses. They are sweet and affectionate. You’d never know they came from such abuse.

We stay awhile in the barn, the pigs trying to nibble on my coat, shoes, notebook, anything they can reach, as Todd explains how he found it. The realtor had instructed him to bring bolt cutters as he would have to break the locks to see the barn. Inside he found rabbits in cages, left with no food or water. Todd and the friend he was with cleaned the cages, fed and watered them, but the owner refused to surrender the rabbits.

He tells me how dark (literally no windows or lights) and filthy this barn was, layers of excrement and mud, knee deep. It took weeks of cleaning, working tirelessly every day shoveling out all the waste and dirt. It is now pristinely clean, with huge windows, double layered with thick plexiglass to keep in the warmth and allow in sunlight. There are new lights, new walls, a new electrical system. Wooden stall doors have been rebuilt. The stalls are big, heated, and filled with clean, warm, straw over brand-new rubber covered floors. Todd explains that this barn will eventually be for animals needing rehabilitation.

Next we go through a door and enter what was, with the previous owner, the “kill room.” Unbelievably, the only thing separating the kill room from the barn is one thin wooden door. How horrific it must have been for the animals, already suffering under the worst conditions, to hear and smell their friends and family being tortured and slaughtered on the other side of the door. The room, while cleaned and obviously no longer in use, still has an ominous, eerie feeling that made me quite uncomfortable. Todd shows me all the ear tags and the buckets of bones he has found all over the property as he has renovated, cleaned, and planted. He says he finds bones everywhere, every day. He’s found an entire cow skeleton and miscellaneous bones from goats, pigs, and birds. He’s also unearthed knives, clubs, and other instruments of torture.

On the other side of the room we go through another door, to more stalls. Todd talks about how he found Arthur. “I came to this door and I heard a sound. I opened the door and there was Arthur. He was a baby. All alone. It was like 103 degrees in here. There was mud against the other door so it wouldn’t open. There was mud everywhere. The gates and doors were all broken shut. He had like four pieces of straw to sleep on. His water was black and had things swimming in it. His food had maggots on it. He lived alone on this concrete mud-covered floor.”

Of course, you’d never know it now. Like the rest of Arthur’s Acres, it is cleaned up and rebuilt beautifully. The doors and gates are fixed and lead out to a brand new ramp and more pastures and barns. We head outside to meet more residents. Todd explains how this beautiful pasture in front of us was a muddy yard filled with discarded tires, wood pallets, and garbage when he first saw it.

Rue (rescued from an abuse and neglect situation) is very “happy go lucky” as Todd describes her, and walks toward us enthusiastically as we approach another gigantic, beautifully rebuilt barn. Inside we find some very sleepy pigs! Todd and I crawl right into the deep soft straw with the pigs and begin the petting and belly rubs! Todd describes the condition of this building when he found it while he lies next to Fay and Vivian (two more pigs rescued from a laboratory). I pet Katniss (rescued along with Prim and Rue from a severe abuse and neglect situation in which they were starved and locked in a shed, knee deep in their own excrement) and Arthur.

As I pet Katness, so happy and content, I think of her story. She became paralyzed and needed a lot of special treatment, therapy, and TLC to walk again. It took four months. The Dodo did a video about Katniss, which you can find here.

About the barn we are in, Todd says, “This was half a building. There was no cement here, no roof. This was a shithole. We dug out the floors. The floors had two feet of shit. It took probably five months, just shoveling, shoveling, volunteer day after volunteer day to clean the shit out. I can’t believe in a year it looks like this, because it took so long just to get started. We raised the floor, the cement wasn’t here—it was just piles of crap. We put in new walls and insulation and new electric. The whole back wall is heaters. We put in the overhang.” He also shows me new pig doors he put in so the pigs can come and go as they please without letting heat out.

Also in the barn is King Karl. A few months ago, there was a post on Farm Sanctuary’s Facebook page looking for a home for a big, beautiful, ten-year-old, 1000-pound pig named Karl. He was used for breeding and was never allowed outside. Karl snoozes in the corner and Todd kneels next to him to give him belly rubs. I laugh when Todd says, “You have to use your whole body. With Karl, there is a lot of real estate to cover.” He tells me when he stands up he looks like a hippo or some big exotic animal. I believe it because Todd is dwarfed when he lays next to him and gives him a big hug.

We leave the sleeping pigs and continue to walk the property back up to the house as Todd explains that the pigs get so big because of how they have been bred. He says farms use feed called “growers” that actually contains not only growth hormones, but pigs blood. The pigs are expected to grow to 250 pounds by the time they are six months old. If not, they are losing money for the farmer, every day they are not up to weight.

At Arthur’s Acres, the animals are fed a vegan diet and they thrive. Even Lyle the dog has V-dog (vegan dog food) most of the time, but he is picky and won’t always eat it. Only the cats are not vegan. The animals eat hundreds of pounds of produce and grain. They eat hay in the winter as well.

Todd describes how he gets calls every day. There are so many animals in need of homes. But he is careful to not take in any more animals than he can care for. Each animal he rescues is brought back to health, with whatever rehabilitation is needed, acclimated to the space and the other animals, spayed or neutered if necessary, and comfortable before he takes on another. There is so much work to be done every day and it is only him working the sanctuary five days a week. He has some volunteers, someone who does a lot of the carpentry and construction, some part time help, and weekend volunteers, but for the most part it is all Todd. In addition, there is the money factor. He cannot take on more animals than he can afford.

Todd estimates monthly expenses are roughly $10,000, including equipment, repairs, vet care, and other bills. To raise money, the sanctuary uses Patreon memberships, animal sponsorships, tours, raffles every Friday, and fundraising campaigns.

One thing Todd warns, for anyone thinking of starting a sanctuary, is that ultimately you need a business sense. You have to be able to budget and plan and project expenses. You have to be able to raise funds, pay bills, and most importantly, leave enough time for it all. It’s one thing many people don’t think about, but is very time consuming and necessary. Social media is very powerful for helping with fundraising. But the most important thing to Todd is the message—compassion. He posts all positive images and videos of the animals.

I ask Todd what he thinks is the hardest thing about running an animal sanctuary? He says, “I hate having to say ‘no’ when I cannot take an animal. And being criticized for saying no. I hate when an animal is sick and there is nothing I can do. And there are hurdles, emotional hurdles and physical ones. It is very emotionally draining. Sometimes my body just hurts. I don’t even know when I wake up what part of my body will be hurting. It is a lot of work. But I only show the positive side. People don’t know what I do. They see my posts and think ‘oh he plays with pigs all day,’ but no, it is a lot of work behind the scenes. They don’t see I was out here at 2:00 in the morning. And it might happen three times this week, but that isn’t what I talk about.”

Todd’s dream is a much deeper focus on pigs, especially older pigs. He wants rescue and rehabilitation of older pigs and the ability to share the resources with other sanctuaries. The goal is to have a therapy barn with a water treadmill that other sanctuaries can use, free of charge.

He is also working on a pot belly barn (which Princess is currently checking out) and pasture where, hopefully, he can adopt ten to twenty pot belly pigs.

He also hopes that some day, the sanctuary can be a place of peace for activists, a place they can stay and recharge their batteries to take on the challenges of activism.

Todd is doing amazing things for animals. He is hardworking, patient and kind. The animals are his life. You hear it in every word he speaks, see it in every move he makes, and in the beautiful life he has created for all the residents of Arthur’s Acres Animal Sanctuary.

For more information about Arthur’s Acres please visit Arthur’s Acres Animal Sanctuary and Arthur’s Acres Facebook page.

Susan Barzallo is News & Associate Editor of The Animals Voice.