To the Wishing Well Sanctuary Board of Directors,

We, the volunteers of Wishing Well, collectively wish to express how we feel about the current state of the sanctuary. First, we’d like to speak to the status of the farm’s infrastructure and the well-being of the animals; which are directly correlated. Over the recent years, we have noticed the deterioration of paddocks, shelters, barns, and equipment vital to the safety and health of the animal residents. We dread to think what these might look like in another year or two, given that this does not seem to be a priority to fix, or even properly maintain (and we’re not talking about the bandaids Mark is forced to put on things, because he’s not given the authority to actually solve the problem). The land Wishing Well sits on is vast and under-exploited, yet the residents are crowded. The cows are living in horrendous conditions; their feet and bodies scream this fact every time you look at them. It’s devastating, and honestly doesn’t feel very ‘sanctuary-like’ to us. The pigs don’t have enough space - pot bellies and big pigs alike. They don’t have grass, they don’t have enrichment, and their paddocks honestly feel like zoo enclosures. We understand funding is an issue, and that’s also why we’re writing this letter.

As a group of roughly fifty people, we volunteer our precious time to the sanctuary for the animals. But at this point it’s becoming apparent that the animals’ best interests are no longer at the forefront of the agenda. This is just unacceptable to us, the fifty-odd people who hold the weight of the sanctuary on our backs. This isn’t to say Richard and Mark aren’t pulling their weight, but alone they can't run a sanctuary of this size. Without us, the volunteers, there truly cannot be a functioning sanctuary. That's just not right, either. If you look at other sanctuaries, they have employees, they have proper funds coming in, and they have volunteers fill in the gaps where needed. They do not rely almost exclusively on the donated time of others, they ensure that their paid staff can keep their facilities running and their animals in optimal health. That is how a sanctuary should be.

This leads to our next point: if all of us just stopped showing up, we don’t think the Board would even notice. Considering how infrequently we see you on the ground here, it’s not unfair to guess that more than half of the Board members don’t even know the animals’ names. Somehow, this Board gets to decide what happens with the animals, and their wellbeing, without even knowing them, without seeing them, without being here. You don’t muck the paddocks or stalls, you don’t feed them each morning, afternoon, or night, and you don’t give them medical treatment when they’re injured - usually due to poor living quarters. The decisions made for Wishing Well should be made by people who are on the ground, doing the work, who know the animals as if they were their own family members - by Board members who have experience with animals, with building barns, as well as running proper fundraising campaigns, etc etc. We don’t feel confident that this Board provides any of the skills or knowledge appropriate to running a Sanctuary. This level of incapability needs to be addressed. It should have been addressed years ago, and now it’s almost too late.

Take this weekend, for example, as an obvious indicator that the Board is unfit to run this sanctuary. Olivia was injured, and she was not properly cared for. A vet advised that she should have gone to OVC, and she was not taken to OVC. Instead, she was thrown into a stall, with minimal instruction provided to the volunteers, who were then expected to provide medical care to her. A post simply mentioning that Olivia has meds, instead of a staff or Board member stepping up to do that themselves, is completely unacceptable.The caregiver was off site for planned vacation and that is no excuse to neglect the animals. Had this been last weekend, Art would have been there. Art would have taken care of Olivia. He would have arranged a ride to take her to OVC. Someone like Art is more capable of running a sanctuary, this Board is not. This is continuously proven, time after time.

Art was hired to manage the sanctuary, and during his short, but highly effectual time, he was able to foster and rebuild damaged relationships this sanctuary has been striving to have for years, which would have surely brought the funds required for making the changes desperately needed at this time. Had the Board actually allowed Art to continue laying the groundwork for funding, we know Wishing Well would begin to flourish. Art was doing the job of three people, and he still managed to raise the morale of the volunteers; this is one of the most important assets Art brought to the sanctuary. Never have we had such strong and positive morale than when Art, Richard, and Mark were effectively running Wishing Well. We saw a vision of Wishing Well for the future, we were guided by strong compassionate leadership. And now, the morale is lower than any of us have ever experienced. We’re worried; for the animals mostly, but also for how things are going to be, going forward. How could things possibly be better with someone like Art gone? They simply can’t. That’s not an opinion, that is a fact.

Something needs to change. And that isn’t a suggestion, it is also a fact. As volunteers, we don’t feel comfortable supporting a facility that is allowing its animals to live and suffer in the conditions they’re currently in, with no plans for improvement, no changes being put in place. As such, if the changes we so desperately need are not seen, sadly we will have to walk away. None of us want to do that, Wishing Well is a part of our lives, but the repeated disappointments and deterioration have driven us to this point. We will all support and help the animals find new homes, where they can be more appropriately cared for, but we won’t stand by while nothing is done, and the conditions turn from bad to worse. We need a plan of legitimate action, no more empty words and promises.

With everything said above, we wish to see the property and charity pass hands to a group of people that can and will bring Wishing Well back to what it was intended to be when Brenda lovingly opened its doors seven years ago - a sanctuary. We honestly feel it can't be called that anymore, which is a hard truth to swallow. The animals deserve better, and if you actually care about the animals, you will accept and agree that they need more, and they need new leadership. A fresh start. The only way to keep all of the animals on the property, or at very least keep them together, is to relinquish control to people who have the ability to run a proper sanctuary.

We are prepared to withdraw our services if no significant and immediate changes are made for these animals. We are also prepared to leave if our other leader, Richard, is made to leave. We love the animals, and we hope you do too. But if new management and leadership is not brought in, we don’t think anything will ever change, and that’s a huge detriment to the animals. Which we just can’t stand by any longer. We wish to receive a response from the Board within two weeks, the animals simply cannot wait by any longer while the current management and leadership do nothing.

We hope you understand that this is not a personal attack on anyone’s character. This is not an attack at all, frankly. This is a group of people coming together who care desperately about a group of animals - who we see suffering - trying to make a change. Demanding a change, actually. And where there is no change, there are no longer volunteers. This is an ultimatum none of us ever wanted to make, but we hope you’ll see that these animals need us, and they do desperately need change. Wishing Well was conceived as a beautiful dream for what a kind and gentle life can be like - please, listen to us, and pass this dream on to a team who can make it a reality.

Thank you.

Signed,

The volunteers of Wishing Well Sanctuary