A Home Where the Buffalo Roam
At the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, which is run by The HSUS and The Fund for Animals, the front gate reads “I have nothing to fear, and here my story ends. My troubles are all over, and I am at home.” Drawn from the last lines of Anna Sewell’s novel “Black Beauty,” this inscription was the late Cleveland Amory’s inspiration for the ranch he founded three decades ago. His vision: A secure, secluded haven where animals are not to be looked at, but looked after.
Nearly 1,300 animals have found permanent refuge at the 1,250-acre sanctuary in East Texas, refugees and rescues from the agriculture industry, research facilities, zoos and other entertainment enterprises, captive shooting operations, government culling programs, and individual acts of abuse.
The animals are free to live on their own terms and a photo recently sent to me by Diane Miller, the ranch director, is a perfect example of this—showing some of the bison on their way to Kickapoo Creek, which runs through the property. Diane reports that in the recent Texas heat wave the bison have been traveling from the woods to the creek every morning, submerging themselves in the water or loafing on the cool banks. I’m posting the photo of their daily migration below, followed by a few more of the bison on the open range.
You can read more about the sanctuary in this story from The HSUS’s member magazine All Animals and, if you’d like, help provide care for the animals with a special donation. Also, if you’re on Facebook, be sure to “Like” Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch to get their latest updates.
Top photo credit Diane Miller/Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch. Other photos credit Michelle Riley/The HSUS.
