header image

[Sign Up Now] to Receive Our FREE Daily SCVTV-SCVNews Digest by E-Mail

Inside
Weather


 
Calendar
Today in
S.C.V. History
April 18
1945 - Actors Harry & Olive Carey sell Saugus ranch after 29 years; now Tesoro del Valle [story]
Carey Ranch


Watch Pam’s half-hour tour of The Gentle Barn here => http://www.scvtv.com/html/at112411gentlebarnbtv.html

 

The Thanksgiving tables were turned Thursday for a handful of rescued turkeys at the Gentle Barn sanctuary on Sierra Highway where they feasted on home-made vegan pumpkin pie – fed to them by “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson.

“I’ve been an animal rights activist since I was 6 or 7 years old when I got my dad to stop hunting,” said Anderson, who grew up in Canada. She said she realized, “If you complain enough, people start listening, and then they start realizing you might be right.”

Anderson shuns foods derived from animals, and sure enough, Thursday’s pie was devoid of eggs and milk products.

“We love animals, and every Thanksgiving we actually rescue some turkeys,” said Gentle Barn founder Ellie Laks.

“On Thanksgiving our tradition is a little different. Instead of eating turkey, we bring pie to the turkeys and make it kind of their day,” she said.

Anderson said she got the idea of paying a first-time visit to The Gentle Barn from fellow vegetarian Christopher Ameruoso, publicist for the animal rights group Last Chance for Animals.

“What a lot of people don’t understand about vegetarians and vegans is, they feel like we want the whole world to stop eating meat,” Ameruoso said. “It’s more about being humane to animals. It’s just getting worse and worse as you can see every year, if you look at … how many turkeys are in demand every year and how many – they’re not just killed, they’re slaughtered. They’re tortured. And it’s not a great thing.”

Anderson said being vegetarian also means you’re “really conscious of the environment. Being vegetarian is better than driving a hybrid car. Factory farms and slaughter houses are really bad for the environment, and it’s all bad for your health.”

“I chose to be a vegetarian for humane reasons,” she said. “Once I found out what goes on behind closed doors at slaughter houses, it really didn’t make me want to eat meat anymore.”

Laks said every animal at The Gentle Barn – from de-beaked turkeys and starved goats to enormous, factory-fattened sows and bovines – was rescued from “severe abuse.”

“What makes us different from other rescues is, other rescues do the very important work of rescuing animals and finding homes for them. We concentrate on the animals that cannot find homes – the ones that are so broken, old, sick or damaged that no one wants to adopt them,” she said.

“We bring them in and rehabilitate them. One they’re healed, they stay here for the rest of their lives.”

But they aren’t put out to pasture. Their work isn’t done.

“They help us heal kids,” Laks said. “We work with kids in foster care, on probation, in gangs, on drugs, from the inner city, as well as special-needs kids and adults. Through the stories of the animals and through the interaction with the animals, they find themselves.”
Anderson found herself wanting to replicate The Gentle Barn.

“This is my dream. I want to have a ranch, have some type of rescue facility,” said Anderson, whose boyfriend Jon Rose works with a charity devoted to providing clean drinking water to impoverished communities in South America.

“I finally finished my house in Malibu and I’m going to rent it out and then I’m going to do something like this,” she said. “This is what I really want to do for my future. I don’t know where yet, but what a great idea.”

The idea sits well with Laks, whose 12-year-old facility is looking to expand onto neighboring Sierra Highway property and ultimately hopes to spread to other locations throughout the country.






Comment On This Story
COMMENT POLICY: We welcome comments from individuals and businesses. All comments are moderated. Comments are subject to rejection if they are vulgar, combative, or in poor taste.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.

1 Comment

  1. That is so cool, never heard of someone doing this. That’s very sweet!

Leave a Comment


SCV NONPROFIT LINKS

NONPROFIT HEADLINES
Thursday, Apr 17, 2025
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital will recognize and celebrate its dedicated volunteers during National Volunteer Week, April 20-26.
Thursday, Apr 17, 2025
The Friends of Santa Clarita Public Library are having a Spring Bag Sale Saturday, April 26 - Sunday, May 4.
Thursday, Apr 17, 2025
The Santa Clarita Artists Association will host "Things with Wings," art show reception Saturday, April 26 at the SCAA 6th Street Gallery, 22508 6th St., Newhall, CA 91321.
Thursday, Apr 17, 2025
The Santa Clarita Artists Association will be hosting a Plein Air Outdoor Artmaking and public meet up Friday, April 25, 9 a.m.- noon at Castaic Lake.
Wednesday, Apr 16, 2025
Unleash the dragon at Castaic Lake, home to the upcoming 6th Annual Dragon Boating festival on May 31, 2025.

Latest Additions to SCVNews.com
1945 - Actors Harry & Olive Carey sell Saugus ranch after 29 years; now Tesoro del Valle [story]
Carey Ranch
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital will recognize and celebrate its dedicated volunteers during National Volunteer Week, April 20-26.
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Celebrates National Volunteer Week
The William S. Hart Union High School District has announced Nicholas Patey, Golden Valley High School math teacher, has been selected as the 2025/26 Hart District Teacher of the Year.
Nicholas Patey Selected as 2025/26 Hart District Teacher of the Year
In the early morning hours of Thursday, April 17, the Juveniles and Gangs (JAG) team at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station led a coordinated, multi-location operation aimed at disrupting criminal street gang activity and safeguarding the Santa Clarita Valley.
JAG Team Leads Successful Operation, Arrests Eight Newhall 13 Gang Members
The Friends of Santa Clarita Public Library are having a Spring Bag Sale Saturday, April 26 - Sunday, May 4.
April 26-May 4: Friends of Santa Clarita Public Library Spring Bag Sale Begins
For the fifth consecutive year, the California Institute of the Arts animation programs (Character Animation and Experimental Animation) have collectively earned the top spot in all eligible categories in Animation Career Review’s 2025 Animation School Rankings.
CalArts Retains No. 1 Spot in Animation Career Review’s 2025 Rankings
The Santa Clarita Artists Association will host "Things with Wings," art show reception Saturday, April 26 at the SCAA 6th Street Gallery, 22508 6th St., Newhall, CA 91321.
April 26: SCAA ‘Things With Wings’ Art Reception
This week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion introduced by Supervisor Kathryn Barger and co-authored by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis to invest in supporting art-centered fire recovery initiatives in Altadena.
Supervisors Back Art-Centered Fire Recovery in Altadena
The Santa Clarita Artists Association will be hosting a Plein Air Outdoor Artmaking and public meet up Friday, April 25, 9 a.m.- noon at Castaic Lake.
April 25: Castaic Lake SCAA Plein Air Artmaking
The California Department of Transportation will hold a public, informational meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 24 for the Interstate 405 (I-405) Pavement Rehabilitation Project.
April 24: Caltrans Hosts Meeting on I-405 Pavement Rehabilitation Project
Mark your calendars and start making plans to join California State Parks and partners in celebrating the fourth annual California State Parks Week from June 11-15.
June 11-15: Fourth Annual California State Parks Week
Valencia Library will host "Altogether, Now!", a garden gnome painting event, 10-11 a.m. Monday, April 21.
April 21: Valencia Library to Host ‘Altogether, Now!’ Event
1930 - Telephone switchboard operator Louise Gipe, heroine of the 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster, tries & fails to kill herself over an unrequited love [story]
Louise Gipe
In partnership with the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, LA County Library invites all County residents to explore public art in their communities through its Civic Art Passport.
Explore Art Across L.A. County with Civic Art Passport
Unleash the dragon at Castaic Lake, home to the upcoming 6th Annual Dragon Boating festival on May 31, 2025.
May 31: Castaic Lake Hosts 6th Annual Dragon Boat Festival
Effective April 16, 2025, DACC is discontinuing the requirement to set an appointment  to surrender a pet at DACC’s seven animal care centers.
DACC Discontinues Appointment Requirement for Pet Surrenders
The California State Board of Equalization released its Fiscal Year 2023-24 Annual Report earlier this week. 
Board of Equalization Fiscal Report Assessed Property Value Statewide Total $8.7 Trillion
The city of Santa Clarita is launching a pilot program to offer residents free mulch and compost created from processed yard waste and food waste that has been recycled.
Free Mulch, Compost Available for Santa Clarita Residents
Southern California has seen a lot of natural phenomena recently — from enormous wildfires and high-speed winds to massive rainfall and landslides — and most recently, a series of small to moderate earthquakes.
CSUN Professor Assures Recent Earthquakes Aren’t Related to Other Natural Phenomenon
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has launched an interactive online dashboard that provides the public with access to environmental and health monitoring data collected in response to the January 2025 wildfires.
Interactive Dashboard Tracks Environmental, Health Monitoring Following January Wildfires
The Painted Turtle is serving up a fun afternoon to support their operations with a pickleball tournament. 
May 4: Support the Painted Turtle with Pickleball Tournament at the Griffin Club
The city of Santa Clarita has closed MP Fields #1 and #2 at Central Park, 27150 Bouquet Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91350, for maintenance work being done on the grass.
City Closes Two Fields at Central Park Until Summer
1962 - Walt Disney donates bison herd to Hart Park [story]
Bison
Have you ever looked at the sky and wondered if humans are alone? Have you ever watched a sci-fi show or film and wondered if there really are habitable exoplanets out there like the much beloved Vulcan, Tatooine, or Arrakis?
April 25: Spring Star Party at COC Canyon Country Campus
SCVNews.com