Animal sanctuary goat inspires others ahead of fundraiser

Jul. 10—Though he had a difficult beginning, Franklin the Goat's courage, resilience and ability to forgive make him a role model we all can learn from.

A small black goat with black-and-white-spotted ears and kind brown eyes, Franklin calls Indraloka Animal Sanctuary home. His story began far away from this Wyoming County safe haven, however.

Indra Lahiri, founder of Indraloka, explained that Franklin was found alone on a busy highway on Dec. 31. A tag much bigger than his tiny face hung from his ear, which suggested that Franklin had likely fallen off a truck headed for slaughter. Thankfully, he was spotted and taken to Indraloka, but he had a long road ahead of him. He was weak, malnourished, infested with parasites, and fighting pneumonia and multiple infections. He also had a double eye infection so severe that it had temporarily blinded him.

Following this horrifying experience, Franklin was terrified of humans and even afraid to lay down. He stayed on high alert for days and shook with fright any time a human came close. Indraloka staff gently treated Franklin with the medical care and compassion he deserved. Little by little, he grew stronger and his fear of humans lessened.

Now healthy and living at the sanctuary, Franklin will serve as Indraloka's "team captain" of Goat Games 2022, a nationwide, virtual event that challenges human participants to complete an activity of their choosing to raise awareness and funds for farmed animals. The event runs from Thursday, Aug. 12, through Monday, Aug. 15, and participants can run, walk, bike, hike, swim or create an activity of their choosing (even binge-watching and napping counts) to raise funds for a participating sanctuary.

Indraloka is Northeast Pennsylvania's "home team" sanctuary, and funds raised during the games will help provide rescued animals like Franklin with the care and comfort they deserve to live freely and happily.

"The Goat Games not only gives people a fun and exciting summer activity, but it also gets them to flex their strongest muscle: a kind heart," said Kathy Stevens, founder and executive director of Catskill Animal Sanctuary, which co-hosts the games along with the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. "The games support the work of sanctuaries that save thousands of farmed animals every year — animals who are every bit as individual as dogs or cats and who want their lives just as we want ours. Whether you're participating as an athlete or as a donor, your support is literally changing lives."

Beginnings

Lahiri started rescuing dogs, cats and horses in the late 1990s and founded Indraloka (which means "heaven for the gods" in Sanskrit) in May 2005 on a 40-acre farm in Mehoopany. She eventually broadened her scope to include pigs and other farm animals, who typically suffer a great deal of abuse.

Today, Indraloka now operates on a 100-acre property near Dalton where nearly 200 animals — such as sheep, chickens, turkeys, goats, horses, cows, alpacas, pigs and miniature pigs, cats and ducks — call it home. The animals often are rescued from factory farms or neglect and will live at Indraloka for the rest of their natural lives. They graze freely and are encouraged to find their own space and comfortably interact with humans.

The animals also have their own personalities, quirks, likes and dislikes, just like a pet dog or cat, Lahiri said. Each animal has its own story, too, most of which revolve around a tenacity and will to live. Brother Wind, a majestic white former race horse, was bought at an auction by a family who wanted to use him for breeding purposes, overlooking the fact that he was sterilized. He was starved and locked up in a small gated area, surrounded by fresh green grass. While he managed to escape, he bypassed stopping to eat and kept walking until he got to a busy highway in Mehoopany. Spotted by drivers and taken to Indraloka, Brother Wind was malnourished and exhausted but determined to get to safety.

"He was absolutely starving, skin and bones, and he could have just got out of his fenced area and eaten all the grass he wanted, but he knew he needed to get himself out of there to survive," Lahiri said. "I always say he truly saved himself. Now, he lives freely and has this amazing, full life."

Animals are more aware of their surroundings than humans give them credit for, Lahiri said. On a recent day, the friendly cows that usually greet their human visitors were nowhere to be found. Instead, she said, they had each kept to themselves to mourn the loss of their friend, Houdini, a 3,000-pound gentle giant of a steer that had died the day before. While one of the cows, Rupert, did come close, he kept returning to the same spot on the grass, sighing loudly. That was where Houdini took his last breath, Lahiri explained, and Rupert was crying.

"This is why when people say, 'Animals don't have feelings,' they're so wrong," Lahiri said. "They experience joy and loss and grief and friendship just like we do. They know what's going on."

Indraloka does lifesaving work like this every day but must rely heavily on donations and grants to continue. While the farm is at capacity now, more funding and volunteers could help it take in more animals and give optimal care to existing residents. It also helps ensure that Indraloka can continue its community outreach, including providing educational programs for children, public tours and special events such as ThanksLiving, an annual celebration in which turkeys are the guests of honor.

Vet clinic

Money raised from the Goat Games also will benefit several projects in development at Indraloka, including a veterinary clinic. Currently under construction, the clinic will provide lower-cost veterinary services to about 35 organizations under the NEPA Animal Welfare Collaborative. The clinic will reside in the basement level of Indraloka's main barn, and once complete, it will include areas for exams, surgeries and treatment plus boarding space.

Thanks to a nationwide veterinarian shortage, Lahiri said, pet owners, animal shelters and sanctuaries across the country, including in NEPA, are having trouble finding care for their animals. Owners and caretakers also struggle with paying rising veterinary costs, she said. Indraloka, which recently hired Leslie Interlandi as its staff veterinarian, will first open its clinic to Griffin Pond Animal Shelter in South Abington Twp., since it's Indraloka's largest partner. Lahiri expects to start bringing in other partners by early 2023.

"We thought of it like, if we're all facing these same problems, how can we solve them together?" Lahiri said. "When it comes to the nonprofit world, we're always better off working together to help each other."

That's why Lahiri immediately took the chance to join the Goat Games. With sanctuaries working together, a greater need can be filled, she said.

Role model

Though he's still smaller than most of his fellow goats at the sanctuary, Franklin lives a healthy, happy life. He spends his days running through pastures with his goat buddies, Oreo and Oliver, or playing with mini pigs such as Blue, Isis and Blackie.

Franklin embodies the spirit of this year's Goat Games, Lahiri said, and humans can learn a lot from him. After two years of distress and misfortune, we're ready to rise above and move forward full of bravery and compassion, just like Franklin did.

"Franklin's story is really a story of resilience," Lahiri said. "Look at all he's accomplished from where he started. Now, he's making interspecies friendships and making his own decisions. He has this beautiful, full life. ... He's overcome hardships and is thriving. He's a wonderful role model. We'd maybe all be better off if we looked up to animals like Franklin and their ability to overcome and thrive."

Contact the writer:

gmazur@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9127;

@gmazurTT on Twitter