Just A Few Notes
Esther
There is a chance that you may not see Esther. It is up to her and her agenda whether or not she is out visiting on a particular day. As this is a sanctuary, we strive to respect all residents and their need for privacy.
Steve and Derek
Just like with Esther, you may or may not see Steve and Derek. They are sometimes away from the farm for either work, or even for pleasure - which we do let them do once in a while!
Foot Bath
When you arrive at the Sanctuary we will be asking you various questions about any recent travel plans, and for the safety of our residents, we may ask you to use a multi-part foot bath before entering the Sanctuary grounds.
Food for the Animals
We ask that you never feed our residents - we ensure they get lots of healthy, plant-based food that is nutritionally suited for them.
If you would like to bring an offering for the Sanctuary, we are happily able to accept fresh produce for the animals. Popular items include: apples, carrots, melons (watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew), grapes, berries, papaya and greens, such as spinach, collards, chard, lettuce. Please do not bring kale, mangoes, citrus, potatoes, eggplant, or mushrooms. Other accepted donations include eco-friendly dish soap, laundry detergent and gift cards for TSC Stores, Home Hardware and No Frills.
Food for You
If you wish to bring snacks or a picnic, please do so, we just remind you that in respect for all of our residents all food on the farm is Esther Approved (free from any animal products including meat, dairy, eggs and honey)!
If you need any assistance in or ideas for Esther Approved food, please feel free to follow Esther’s Kitchen on social media.
Service Animals
Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary welcomes everyone to visit us and meet our wonderful residents, and we know that for some people, this visit will include a registered service animal.
In order to ensure the health and safety of our resident animals, the visiting service animal, as well as our staff, volunteers, and visitors, we would ask that you provide us with ample notice that you will be bringing a service animal.
In these cases we will do our best to ensure that your visit with us is as comprehensive as possible, but there may be certain areas of the farm where a service animal may not be permitted in order to ensure the health and safety of our residents. In all cases, service animals will not be permitted to have direct access with any of our residents, nor permitted into our barns or other enclosures.
Contacting us in advance to make arrangements for service animals is necessary. Service animals that we are not expecting may not be provided access to our sanctuary due to the high risk of airborne disease among certain animal species.
Companion Animals
For their safety and the safety of our animal residents, companion animals are not permitted at the sanctuary. Visitors who do arrive with companion animals inside your vehicle will unfortunately be asked to leave as it is extremely dangerous to leave any animal in locked vehicle even with a window left ajar.
For Visitors who have had contact with other Farmed Animals
For visitors who live or work on a farm, or who have recently had contact with other farmed animals, we do ask that you please inform us. It is important for you to wear different clothing and different footwear than you wore when you had contact with other farmed animals since diseases, especially in the soil (often found on clothing and footwear) can affect people and animals.
International Travellers
International travel, while fun and exciting, also comes with possible consequences for farmed animals. Once such example is African Swine Fever (different from Swine Flu) which is very dangerous to pigs, and has a 100% mortality rate. While we cannot reasonably list all possible risks to our residents, we do ask that you are vigilant, and when in doubt, please let us know so that we can discuss it with you.
Private/Group Tours
We are happy to arrange private tours of Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary, whether it’s for a couple of people or a group of up to 25. And, if there is a specific animal, or animals, that interest your group, we can customize your tour to allow more time with those residents.
All proceeds from the group tours are donated to HEEFS for the care of our residents.
For 1 to 10 people - $300.00 flat fee
Each additional person, up to a total of 25 people - $25 per person
