Fifty-five years ago, when a British soldier was preparing for deployment to Northern Ireland, he asked Barby Keel to take care of his dog.
Barby and the dog stayed together, giving both a new outlook. The dog lived in comfort and Barbara started taking care of several cats. That grew to 40 cats, then that grew to sheep, cows, pigs and goats.
Barby now has an English sanctuary of 12 acres that houses 160 cats, 16 pigs, 8 dogs, 6 horses, 100 chickens and 80 rabbits.
Smaller animals are easy to re-home, bigger ones not so much.
Barby did this all by herself for 20 years, but then volunteers couldn’t stand being left out.
None of this has been easy. Barby uses her pension money to buy bulk feed, allowing her to sell some to locals at lower prices. Her partner left her, but she knew when someone says they might leave it’s important to give them a shove.
Barby leaves the sanctuary ever couple of weeks to go to town and play darts with a men’s team.
Also, she’s 91.
Pic from Facebook