Where every goat has a name: Chubby Goat Acres gives neglected farm animals a second chance

Farm animals — pigs, sheep, cows, chickens, and others — are often pictured grazing peacefully in open fields. And while many do live well, countless others face neglect, abandonment, or serious abuse. Yet unlike dogs and cats, who have shelters and advocacy groups across every community, farm animals rarely have anyone to turn to when their lives go wrong.

Here in Southwest Michigan, that gap is filled by a small but determined refuge: Chubby Goat Acres, a sanctuary for farm animals.

The 17-acre farm is located at 10750 Paw Paw Lake Dr. in Schoolcraft, southwest of Kalamazoo. It’s also the home of the sanctuary’s operators, Chris and Dave Kreutz, and Chris’s mother, Jeanne Carter.

“Sanctuaries like this are necessary because there are so many farm animals that are neglected and abused,” says Chris, executive director. “Forgetting about the systemic accepted abuse that goes on — I’m talking about like piglets who have their tails cut off with no anesthesia — beyond that, it’s because they’re animals that are seen as what they can provide instead of who they are. That’s the main difference between us and like dog rescue places. 

“We’re here for animals that so much of the public perceives as something to use, not as someone. So they fall into a lot of really, really horrible situations, and there aren’t enough people out there being advocates for them.”

Her husband, Dave Kreutz, agrees. “We feel that every animal has the right to be their own animal and is a being that deserves to live a long and happy life and not be taken advantage of. So that’s why we’re vegan and we don’t eat animal products. 

“And we see people treating animals badly. There are some things that are just terrible that we just don’t believe any creature should go through. For every one we can give a full and happy life to, that just means one better, happier being on earth.”

Jeanne Carter, who is the barn manager, says, “To see an animal that comes from a bad situation and you just give them a little love, kindness, food, and care and just let them feel safe — the personality that comes out, it just is amazing on some of these animals.”

Meet Hannah B, an elderly sheep who’s not a follower

Residing at Chubby Goat Acres recently were 9 farm pigs, 14 potbelly pigs, 4 sheep, 70 goats, 3 steers, 3 horses, 2 donkeys, 1 pony, and various farm birds, including chickens, ducks, pigeons, and a turkey named Siegfried. 

Chris tells about how a ewe they named Hannah B came to the sanctuary. 

“We received a call from a concerned woman who was buying a house on a nearby lake, and this sheep was wandering in her yard,” Chris says. “We were told this sheep was very scared of people. We captured her, and she was beyond thin — emaciated. The wool that covered her sunken sides was thick with burrs, matting the wool together. Her hooves were wildly overgrown, each side curving up and out. Her left ear was a drooping, swollen mess, torn and bleeding from where a tag had ripped out of it. Down her back was spray paint, most likely a cull mark, to designate her as an animal with no additional value except for slaughter.”

Chris continues, “While with our veterinarian, we noticed that Hannah’s teeth were completely worn down. In fact, they were so small and worn that she couldn’t properly chew hay. This helped to explain her emaciated state and also why she was probably considered a cull animal. She was elderly and spent after years of repeatedly giving birth, with teeth too worn to easily eat; she was marked to sell for slaughter. 

“Eventually, she stopped panicking when she saw us, but still wanted nothing to do with us. That’s when we would quietly sit in the corner of her stall. The breakthrough came when she reached out to nibble on an animal cracker. Her love for those delicious little snacks overcame her distrust of us, and our friendship began to bloom.  

“Hannah began to not just live, but to thrive. She would corner people in stalls and the main aisle, leaning in for deep scratches and pushing against you if you stopped.  People use the term sheep as a way of saying someone is just mindlessly following others, but I can tell you if they had met our Hannah B, they’d see that sheep are every bit as unique and thoughtful as anyone else.”

Dave Kreutz says, “All these animals have names because they are all their own individuals. So it’s fun to have 150 friends out here because each one of them is just like a really cool person that you have your own little interactions with.”

One volunteer’s ‘happy place’

The nonprofit sanctuary is a 24/7 operation that’s more work than the three residents can handle. Chris says, “We have seven or eight really dedicated volunteers who come every week, different days of the week, to help us, to help clean stalls and stuff.”

One of the volunteers is Kalamazoo resident Iris Potter, who has been a helper since almost the founding of Chubby Goat Acres in 2018. Potter, a retired social worker, says, “I have been an animal rights advocate for almost 30 years. I walked onto the beautiful Chubby Goat Acres farm and saw all the happy animal babes in a place that is their forever home and free from any harm, and I have been volunteering ever since. 

“It is truly my happy place. I get to talk to, pet, and just connect with these animals individually and appreciate their beauty and strength, knowing the pain and suffering many of them experienced. I help clean stalls, give food and water, help with any farm project of the day, all the while stopping to connect with any resident (animal) I see.”

Potter is a co-founder of Kalamazoo Animal Advocates and vice president of Dignity in Motion, which helps unhoused people, especially by providing them with bicycles.

Recently, a large group of Western Michigan University students, all members of fraternities and sororities, spent much of a day at the sanctuary completing maintenance projects. Gavin Maurer, founder and president of the organization called Impact Kalamazoo, says, “We work to unite students in Greek life at WMU through different community outreach events. We were able to have over 40 students come to our event at Chubby Goat Acres on Oct. 24, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Students had a great time working with the animals; they thought the staff was incredibly supportive and kind, and many said they would love to come back again for another volunteer opportunity.”

Part petting zoo and part education

“A big part of what we do is educating people because people come here and they say, ‘Oh, your pigs are so sweet. I want a pig’ or “Oh my God, I love goats! Look how cool these goats are,'” says Chris. “So we show them what’s involved in this, and 95 percent of the time they realize that this is a very expensive individual that’s going to require a 10- to 15-year commitment.”

Chris and Dave Kreutz both have jobs outside the sanctuary that enable them to keep the operation going when donations and fundraising don’t bring in enough money. Much of their work can be done at home.

Love at first animal ‘shoot’

Dave’s full-time job is supervising a large staff of investigators for the medical examiner’s office at Western Michigan University medical school. The office uses eight pathologists to be able to serve as the medical examiner for 14 Michigan counties. Dave’s previous career was as a commercial photographer in Chicago.

Chris works with a partner in Chicago in a company called Tails on Set that provides animals for advertising purposes. 

How they met: “I did a lot of advertising agency work, including for Purina and the pet food, and a lot of animal photography, so a lot of the packaging for Purina Pro Plan and Friskies is all my photographs on those packages,” says Dave. “That’s how I met Chris, because I needed animals for photo shoots and Chris supplied them. And I thought, ‘Look at her! She’s cute!’”

Chris laughs and says, “Little did he know. He lived in downtown Chicago with one cat. I lived in the suburbs with chickens and horses.” 

“And now I have this,” says Dave, while waving a hand toward the scores of animals behind their house.

The Kreutzes don’t pretend that running the sanctuary is idyllic. There can be burnout and compassion fatigue. Take a vacation together? Forget it. Go together to a funeral for somebody close to them? They decide which one of them will attend. 

Volunteers always welcome

Dave wishes they had more volunteers on a regular schedule. 

“Time probably is our most precious commodity,” he says. “We’re continuing to try to get volunteers to help us work on websites and social media things or writing grant proposals. There are funds out there, but we find that we take most of our time with physical things, making it all work. Sometimes it’s hard to do the fundraising we need, so we try to reach out to people to help us in those things.”

‘Doing everything naughty little goats should do’

Despite the workload, Chris and Dave and Chris’s mother, Jeanne Carter, say the rewards are worth it. 

“There is so much love here. It’s not just the big animals but the littlest ones, too — even the chickens, they all have such personalities,” says Chris. “Like the eight baby goats we took in from Animal Control, they were so sick at first we didn’t know if they were going to live. 

“Now watching them be sassy and full of life and out there bucking and kicking and doing everything naughty little goats should do, it’s one of the most rewarding parts.”

How did this sanctuary get its unusual name? Chris says she and Dave already had four goats when they started and were discussing a name. One of the goats was “a thicker boy,” she says, and that led to Chubby Goat Acres. “We wanted a name that would be playful and light-hearted because we already knew the toll this work can take. We wanted to be sort of silly with it.”More information about the sanctuary can be found on its website, on Instagram, on Facebook, or by calling 269-270-7945.