Live & Let Live Farm Rises Above The Abyss

PHOTO: Trigger, who was brought to Live and Let Live Farm Rescue in Chichester, was adopted by Tilton Police Chief Robert Cormier. Despite the hardships 2020 brought to the saving of animals, this rescue farm managed to continue to do their important work.

By Scott Philbrick
Live & Let Live Farm

The 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously mused that “… when you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” The general consensus among philosophy scholars in discerning Nietzsche’s meaning here is well agreed upon: that if we embroil ourselves in the matters of wretched or evil things for a period of time and with significant intensity, those wretched or evil things can robustly alter us for the worse. That we can unwittingly defile our souls, entice ruin, and not easily span the soiled, ravaged chasm we leave behind. There is no returning.
Life at Live and Let Live Farm Rescue & Sanctuary certainly seems a near constant abyss. We stare into it daily. We stare into the abyss when we see and deal with the relentless tide of abandoned pregnant dogs and cats that come in to us on a near weekly basis. We stare into it when we take in horses so weak from emaciation and parasites that they’re several hundred pounds underweight, and you read the solitary thought in their eyes: “I give up.” When a horse must be euthanized because of some mindlessly insensate and completely avoidable bone infection, left unattended in what must have been unimaginable pain, and came to us just a bit too late. Or when a newborn goat arrives, having been left all alone out in sub-zero temperatures so long that her ears and rear legs have to be amputated due to frostbite.
Through the endless cacophony of easily avoidable situations involving animal abuse or neglect, we stare into the abyss. And to be honest it’s always a struggle for me discerning how much of that abyss I should share with you, our loyal, or lightly passing, readers. On the one hand there is such a constant sense of urgency to report the reality of our day to day undertakings. On the other hand I nearly always feel a reticence to reveal too much of the horrors of that abyss unnecessarily. It’s a thin line I readily admit I cannot always clearly see.
So whenever I meet with the Executive Director, Teresa Paradis to discuss the content of these pieces I write, we tend to want to focus on the good, the successes, the joy. And that is precisely what the volunteers at the farm, who put in so many tireless hours, do. They focus on the joys and successes, for those are part of that great abyss, as well. And these are the parts we want staring back at us.

Here are some highlights, good or bad, from our abyss of the last year.
First up is Pete, a beautiful mountain goat with a dazzling set of horns, who somehow escaped a trip to the slaughterhouse and survived on the loose, on his own, for over a year. Affectionately called “our buddy Pete,” he arrived at LLLF on November 17, and has been making friends and has even established somewhat of a cult following among the volunteers. There’s something exceedingly joyful to an animal rescue organization, about animals that manage to rescue themselves.
While 2020 brought many COVID-19 stress related animal turnovers to LLLF, in September we took in our first rescue as a direct result of a covid-19 death. Fly, a lovely paint gelding, arrived on his ninth birthday, as a result of his owner being struck down by the virus that now so perniciously surrounds us all.
Then there are the pregnant dogs and pregnant cats, kittens and puppies, abandoned; discarded, that are arriving on a near weekly basis. Even though adoptions are way up, there is great difficulty stemming directly and indirectly from covid-19 related hurdles. The tide is rising.
A NH soldier serving in Afghanistan sent a dog, Maggie, home ahead of him, where she was fostered for eight months. When he returned, he was reunited with Maggie, and also adopted another rescue dog from Tennessee, Trigger. The happiness was relatively short-lived, as hard times fell on the soldier, and ultimately his parents, who had taken in the dogs. When the soldier’s father died, it was all too much for the family, and they began searching for a safe place to which they could turn over Maggie and Trigger.
The Tilton Police Chief suggested LLLF, and in the fall they both came to our rescue/sanctuary. A soft heart cradled beneath that body armor, the Tilton Chief began stopping by LLLF to walk the dogs, and ended up adopting Trigger. Shortly thereafter, the fosterer stopped by to see how they were doing, and when she saw Maggie, took off her mask. Maggie instantly recognized her face and, long story, short— Maggie was quickly adopted!
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we were asked to take in two more litters of pups along with one mom, and a litter of 2-week old kittens whose mom had disappeared. In early December we took in two more pregnant dogs from Georgia, along with two more pregnant cats and three litters of kittens. Recently we took in a horse and seven sheep from a woman who needed a permanent takeover due to surgery and significant life changes. All this while still maintaining the staggering coordination and efforts to meet the constant needs of 70-80 horses at any given time. It’s emotionally crushing, and is indeed, a type of abyss.

“For when you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” I left out a part of that Nietzsche quote earlier; the first part, where he expressly lays out a warning: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.” Philosophers have been debating what Nietzsche meant by this since it was first published in his 1886 work, Beyond Good and Evil. We all have our monsters, don’t we? And I suppose it’s up to each of us to define our own monsters.

For LLLF, the abyss into which we stare each and every day, the monsters, are Ignorance. Arrogance. Selfishness. Greed. Cruelty. Evil. Thankfully, for every act of ignorance that lands a suffering animal in our care, there is a canceling act of kindness that donates a vehicle or some piece of vital equipment to help us do what we do. For every act of cruelty that lands a broken spirit with “I give up” etched in their eyes here at our rescue/sanctuary, there is a sensitive and kind someone out there who is moved to make a financial contribution that helps us fund that broken spirit’s rehabilitation.
Nietzsche doesn’t explain the meaning behind his quote; he leaves that up to the individual reader to interpret. Philosophers, for the most part, seem more predisposed to posing questions than positing answers. To all our readers, our supporters out there, to those who are moved to help us out in any way you can, especially in such harsh economic times, we’re truly grateful, and thank you for making our perpetual abyss a little less oppressive.

Please consider contacting Live and Let Live if you’re considering adopting a loving family companion. Financial contributions are desperately needed and greatly appreciated, as the costs to operate such a facility are staggering. Contributions are fully tax deductible, and 100% allocated to the care and healing of these animals. Contact Teresa by email, at: tehorse@aol.com, or send donations to: Live and Let Live Farm Rescue, 20 Paradise Lane, Chichester NH 03258. Donations can also be made with credit or debit cards, at: www.liveandletlivefarm.org. IMPORTANT: Due to covid-19 our weekly tours to meet the animals of Live and Let Live Farm, normally held every Sunday at 2:30 pm, have been temporarily suspended, so please check our website above for weekly updates. Also, our 2021 calendar is printed, looks fantastic as always, and is ready to go, for $12 or two for $20 (plus shipping). As always, see our website (below) for additional details.