In the News

     

The Scoop: Seer Farms Promo from Princeton Community Television on Vimeo.

 The Seaside 88: Superstorm Sandy at Seer Farms, PhillyPetInfo, October 30, 2013

Read about the many animals that have come through Seer Farms over this past year since Sandy devastated our area.

Seer Farms: For Animals Displaced by Sandy, Atlantic Highlands Herald, November 7, 2012

JACKSON, NJ – For Hurricane Sandy victims, their pets are all that many of these families have left of their homes.  Seer Farms will help keep these families intact.  more… 

In tough times, pets have a place to go, ABC News, December 1, 2010

Diesel and Philly are two lucky dogs. They’re among dozens of cats and dogs who are temporary guests at the Seer Farm in Jackson Township, New Jersey.

It’s a non-profit shelter founded two years ago by community activist Laura Pople, who was horrified by stories of pets being abandoned by owners hit with home foreclosures and tough financial times.  more…

 

Seer Farms cares for pets on a short term basis – The Star-Ledger, November 28, 2010

The farm is different than an animal shelter in that most of the animals are dropped off by families who plan to eventually reunite with them. Many owners return regularly for visits with their pets. more…

When families can no longer afford pets, N.J. farm lends a hand – The Star-Ledger, November 28, 2010
She said she has heard stories of pet owners going to desperate measures to keep their animals — including living in cars or tents with their pets when shelters, relatives or friends are unable to provide temporary shelter for the animals.

“We hear of a lot of people living in cars. Often the animal is giving them continuity, giving them a kind of hope,” Pople said.

In addition to helping the pets, Pople uses her network of contacts to find assistance for families in crisis.    more…

‘People-Centered’ Animal Sanctuary Helps Pet Owners in Crisis – People Magazine, Oct. 26, 2010
“We want to provide someplace safe for the animals,” she says, “but we want to provide hope for their owners, that they would get through this crisis and someday get their animals back.”

Since Seer Farms opened, Pople and her rotating staff of 75 have helped 77 families, who among them have brought her 166 cats, 55 dogs and even a rabbit. The animals are housed on the property, which is open for visitation by the families. So far, 53 pets have been reclaimed by their owners.    more…

Animal sanctuary helps pet parents during economic crisis – The Animal Rescue Site, October 2010
So far Seer Farms has taken care of more than 120 animals, with almost half of them being reclaimed.

“I think it’s great there’s a resource like this available for pet owners who need help with some long-term assistance for their pets,” Adam Goldfarb, director of the Pets at Risk Program at the Humane Society of the U.S. told the news outlet.   more…

Blog Entry about Seer Farms, Paisley Petunia, October 26, 2010
Seer Farms offers these individuals an alternative.  The Out of Crisis program enables families to place their animals in a guaranteed, affordable housing situation while they move through their crisis and start to rebuild their lives or settle back in.  At that time, they can make a measured decision about what to do with their pet.  This decouples the difficult emotional decision about the family’s companion animal from the already difficult experience at hand.  Because Seer Farms is a multi-species facility situated in a farm setting, families with combinations of animals or large animals will not be turned away.   more…

Difference Makers – Rutgers Magazine, Fall 2010
Two years ago, when people started losing their jobs, savings, and homes in droves, Laura Pople (GSNB’90, ’93) began to wonder: Who was looking after their pets? She wanted to volunteer with an organization that cared for families’ furry friends in these times of upheaval. Unable to find one, she created her own: Seer Farms, a long-term boarding facility for pets whose owners are facing evictions, foreclosures, domestic violence, natural disasters, and other crises (seerfarms.org).   more…

New Jersey-based Seer Farms offers a temporary solution for pet guardians in crisis – Best Friends Animal Society, August 06, 2010
To Pople’s surprise, pet guardians facing foreclosure weren’t the only ones seeking Seer Farms’ assistance. “What we quickly learned is that there are many crises that families experience in which temporary care of their animals is an issue — domestic violence situations, divorce, military deployment, natural disaster and hospitalizations.”

Like, for example, the family who escaped a fire in their home with just the clothes on their backs and their pets — a three month old pit bull terrier puppy and a mother cat with four 3-week-old kittens. Or, the woman who would only leave her abuser if the family dogs could leave with her. Seer Farms cared for their pets while they put their lives back in order.   more…

Pet Talk: Seer Farms keeps pets temporarily for owners in crisis – USA Today, March 30, 2010
Sometimes a pet owner just needs a little short-term help.

Like the young New Jersey couple who were expecting a baby and had made arrangements to move soon to living arrangements that would accept both their pit bull and a baby. They’d done everything right. Then the woman went into labor weeks early.

“We literally got the call about whether we could accept the dog for a six-week stay as the couple was on the way to the hospital to deliver,” says Laura Pople, founder of the non-profit Seer Farms….   more…

Nonprofit keeps pets safe for those in crisis – Examiner, March 18, 2010
“Until now, families who are temporarily unable to care for their pets have been forced to relinquish their animals permanently, even when they know their situations will resolve over time,” said Laura Pople, the founder and executive director of Seer Farms. 

“It is devastating to have to part with a pet, even when you know it is in the animal’s best interest,” said Pople. “But Seer Farms leaves people room for hope because there is a reunion to look forward to when better days return.”   more…

Seer Farms Is Helping Pets Whose Owners Can’t Take Care of Them – John Tesh Radio, March 2010
Owners can come visit at any time. So far, Seer Farm has helped 77 families – housing over 200 cats and dogs, and a rabbit nicknamed Monty Python. One family needed a place for their pets while they rebuilt after a house fire. Another woman gave them her dogs when she became homeless, and was living in her car. A Naval petty officer deployed to Afghanistan turned over his dogs when no one was able to take care of them. The farm also accepts pets from seniors and the disabled who can no longer care for their animals, and about one quarter of the pets have been reunited with their owners.   more…

For Pets, a Temporary Shelter From the StormThe Jewish Daily Forward, November 2009
Nafshi has seen up close the ripple effect of the economic pressures that are forcing people out of their homes, pets in tow. Some of the pets’ owners are living in their cars following foreclosure; others are bunking with friends or living in shelters that don’t allow animals. People usually have to be pretty desperate before they give up their pets, Nafshi has found. 

 “We hear it all, believe me. Your heart just breaks for people,” Nafshi said.     more…

Jackson sanctuary offers families temporary pet housingAsbury Park Press, August 2009
“I wanted to help families that were going through a life crisis, who had pets, but no way to care for them,” said Pople, executive director of the foundation.

Seer Farms is different than an animal shelter in that most of the animals are dropped off by families who plan to eventually reunite with them. Farm officials will sign a contract with the pet owner to hold the pet for one, three or six months while assuming practically all of the animal’s expenses and medical needs. The owner, as is often the case, returns regularly for visits.     more…