ARLINGTON — With kittens curled up in windowsills, a little red barn with white-painted trim and the April sunshine making the green grass pop, New Moon Sanctuary looks like a fairytale farm come to life.
Ellen Felsenthal, founder of New Moon, started the sanctuary in 1998 and since then has been creating magical endings full of love and pets for rescued goats and a handful of other farm animals who call the place home.
Felsenthal hadn’t planned on starting a goat sanctuary. She had been involved with other types of animal rescues before, but then a little Nigerian Dwarf goat named Ziggy came into her life, needing a home.
“I was involved with cats, dogs and horses, but then goats kind of came up, and no one had facilities for them,” she said on Thursday.
So Felsenthal created the New Moon and has been rescuing and adopting out goats ever since, a full-time side hustle to her day job of teaching photography at Everett Community College.
“At this point, we’ve adopted out 1,700-and-something animals,” she said.
In mid-February, Felsenthal rescued nine goats from a cockfighting ring in Yelm. Animal control and rescuers also found severely abused goats and horses at the operation and, unfortunately, also found many dead animals on site.
When she got the goats to New Moon, which is on her property outside of Arlington, the animals were emaciated, crawling with lice and worms and had serious hoof rot — a bacterial infection in their feet — she said.
She’s been diligently caring for the rescues, trimming dead tissue off their hooves and applying antibiotics every day.
While they’re still on the mend, the goats are doing much better, Felsenthal said as she navigated her way through the pen, stopping to scratch and love on the more outgoing goats.
By summer, she hopes the goats will be healthy enough to look for adoptive families and caretakers.
Anne Griffiths has been volunteering at New Moon since 2017 and has witnessed firsthand the transformations that have occurred at the farm for rescued goats.
When some goats arrive at the sanctuary, they’re terrified of people — often rightfully so — Griffiths said. But, with volunteers and Falsenthal coming out to give pets and care each day, eventually the goats open up.
“Their personality starts to come out, and they would start to play and settle in and then to see them get adopted … from the start, it’s been a heartwarming place to work and spend my Sundays,” she said on Friday. “You walk onto that land and you can just tell those animals are so loved.”
For every animal adopted out, New Moon volunteers or Felsenthal will do a home visit, making sure there are proper fences and no toxic plants that could harm the goat. And, even after adoption, Felsenthal stays in touch, offering a resource to adopters who have questions or concerns.
In addition to the goats she rescued from Yelm, New Moon is the permanent home to a herd of animals Felsenthal has rescued over the years, including two horses, three donkeys, three sheep and, of course, some goats.
For people looking to support the herd, there are multiple ways to get involved. Donations help with medical needs, barn maintenance and overall care. If you can commit to a 2-hour shift, once a week, for 6 months, you can also reach out to the farm to sign up for volunteering.
Right now, the farm is looking for volunteers to fill shifts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Felsenthal also offers goat care workshops, which include information about nutrition, fencing and shelter, and the importance of finding the right vet. Her next workshop will is scheduled for May 17.
More information can be found at newmoonfarm.org.
Eliza Aronson: 425-339-3434; eliza.aronson@heraldnet.com; X: @ElizaAronson.
Eliza’s stories are supported by the Herald’s Environmental and Climate Reporting Fund.
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