I visited Catskill Animal Sanctuary (CAS) in October of 2014 for my 25th birthday. The trip was a surprise from my boyfriend, and honestly, what a wonderful surprise! I ended up having the best time!

Erica the homestead manager was a dream. She gave us our own personal tour of the grounds, took us to meet all of the animals (I even got to hold a rooster!), gave us the scoop on all of the vegan restaurants nearby and the next morning when we woke up, she made us a delicious vegan breakfast!

We stayed in the homestead for one night in the Paulie Room, which features a queen size bed (perfect for the two of us that went) and quaint, antique furnishings. We happened to be super lucky that weekend though because we were the only group who had booked that night that weekend so we had the whole renovated pre-Civil War homestead to ourselves! We got to veg out while watching The Princess Bride, listening to all of the memorizing country sounds you miss out on living in a very populated area.

The next morning we had the opportunity to stick around and walk the grounds freely with our handy Visitor’s Passes and watch the morning routine on the Sanctuary grounds. Many of the animals were roaming freely because their rooms were being cleaned, or they were being fed, so we got to interact with them, see them excited, talk to the staff and actually see all of the hard work that goes into running this place. No where near all of it though. Just a small chunk.

If you’ve have been debating visiting CAS, searching for a weekend getaway, or you’re simply a huge animal lover like myself, you should really consider heading to Saugerties, NY to visit the sanctuary. Even if you can’t stay the night at the homestead, sign up for a tour! You’ll get to meet the animals, see the grounds, and learn a whole lot about rescuing animals, veganism, environmentalism, animal care and welfare, factory farming and so much more.