Unseen Struggles in the Animal World

It’s no secret that grocery sales have gone way up during the COVID-19 crisis, but that has had a surprising consequence for The Wild Animal Sanctuary (WAS) in Keenesburg, CO. Several large grocery stores usually donate excess meat and produce to WAS, but as we can see from the frequently empty shelves, there hasn’t been much “excess” these days.

Kent Drotar, public relations director at WAS, says, “At one point, we were receiving less than twenty-five percent of the normal donated food we feed to the animals each week.” They had to spend large portions of their budget making up for that loss, which was precarious, as monetary donations have also dropped due to widespread unemployment and economic uncertainty.

With the sanctuary recently reopened, visiting is a good way to support the organization and get some time out of the house. All visitors must wear masks, and social distancing is easy on the 1.5-mile-long walkway, which is 8 feet wide.