Huffington Magazine Issue 75 | Page 64

ARIN GREENWOOD Exit Cummings and Hoerauf opened the sanctuary in 1996. The pair had been renting a farmhouse dated to the 1730s on the site — with Cummings commuting to D.C. to work as a veterinary technician at the National Zoo, and Hoerauf working in printing — while the surrounding property was rented out to a beef cattle farmer. The couple got to know the animals. They developed relationships. Then one day the slaughter truck arrived. “It occurred to me that my next hamburger could be one of my friends,” is how Cummings described this development to The Washington Post. THE THIRD METRIC HUFFINGTON 11.17.13 Poplar Spring’s six turkeys get their own table — in a twist on the usual Thanksgiving meal, visitors feed them.” Meat exited the diet, and, after a long talk with the property’s owner, rescued farm animals replaced the beef cattle. Over time, the land was donated by the couple’s landlord — the one who’d once rented property to the farmer whose animals were destined to be meat, and whose original lease, somewhat ironically, prohibited cats and dogs in the house. “We didn’t have any cats and dogs,” Cummings said. “We had ducks and chickens.” Hoerauf with one of Poplar Spring’s goats.