Winters in Maine can be brutal. Being so close to the Canadian border, it can get really bad. Which is why we need to act fast and get everything ready so the over-75 animals who call Cottontail Cottage Farm Sanctuary home are kept snug and toasty during the worst of the storms. Our hay has gotten down to only a few bales and we need close to 600 to last us until March. At $6 a bale that alone comes to $3,600.

Here are some of our biggest priorities:

1. The bunnies need a nice, thick stall mat to go under their pens so they aren't resting on cold floorboards. We also need lots and lots of straw to make warm beds for them and all the animals.

2. One of our biggest hopes is to be able to put in a dug well before the ground freezes. Last year, we filled buckets in the farmhouse and carried them - two by two - all the way down to the barn and filled empty bowls from there. Aside from freezing wet hands from sloshing water, with the addition of the horses and cows who drink gallons a day, this simply won’t work. In order to save money, we plan to do this ourselves, but it will require some machinery and a well-pump.

3. The new horse addition we put up this summer needs a front put on - right now it is open and used as a three-sided run-in for the horses. It requires lots of boards and battens and a sliding front door. Otherwise, they will be in the direct line of frequent nor’easters. 

Sadly, the animals have seen a significant drop in donations due to the devastating effects of covid-19. We were unable to open for farm tours this summer – a much-counted on revenue – because we didn’t want to risk the lives of our family and volunteers. These are grim and hard times for the animals as the pandemic really starts to affect them and so many more we could be helping. Please donate if you can ($6 buys a bale of hay, $10, $20. . .it all adds up) and help us get through the very worst of winter. Best of all, we are a 501©3, charitable non-profit and your donations are tax-deductible. Time to get all of this done is running out. In the meantime, as we wake-up to frosty mornings, I will continue my chant to poor Mathew: “Hurry, hurry, Mathew dear.”

Thank you for being a friend to the animals – and us. We have come to rely on your support and couldn’t do any of this without you!

(Jimmy the baby "veal" calf we saved a month ago, from being slaughtered. Doesn't he have the cutest underbite! Jimmy is happy to be alive! Just like all the animals who have been given a second chance at life, here. Please help us provide for him and all his furry-friends.)

Donations can made here or mailed to : 

CCFS

471 Milbridge Road

Cherryfield, Maine 04622

Thank you for your love and support! 

Jenny