There’s a place just 40 minutes outside Bloomington on top of a hill in Freedom, Indiana where you can find pigs, cows, goats and chickens who live a different life than other farm animals.

Five years ago, couple Mark and Michelle Pruitt quit their jobs in business and social work to do something towards stopping animal abuse in the meat industry. Together, they began Uplands PEAK Animal Sanctuary.

“We just really wanted to get out of corporate America, and we’d always had this dream,” said Mark Pruitt, Co-Founder of Uplands PEAK. “When we both became vegan and started learning about the plight of animals and what they go through to be on peoples’ plate, we said hey, maybe we could rescue a couple animals.”

Each animal at the sanctuary is one that would have been killed and eaten or used for milk. Pruitt says the animals are typically surrendered to them or they escaped from the farm where they were located.

“We started off with two pigs, Andy and Annie, who escaped a backyard barbecue,” Pruitt said. Andy and Annie are still at the sanctuary today at five-years-old, which is much longer than most pigs ever live. Pruitt says the average life-span for a pig is only six months. 

Uplands PEAK Animal Sanctuary’s official mission as it reads on their website:

“To rescue and rehabilitate abused and neglected farmed animals, educate the public to the benefits of a healthy vegan lifestyle, and promote sustainability.”

The couple says they consider themselves animal rights activists and they use the sanctuary as a form of education. The sanctuary has core values of compassion, refuge, veganism and stewardship. Uplands PEAK has workshops, tours and education sessions about how to live a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle.

Indiana University’s Themester series is titled Animal/Human and is focused on analyzing animal human relationships. Themester sent nearly 40 students to Uplands PEAK Animal Sanctuary to explore this theme and grow on the idea of animal ethics. The students toured the sanctuary, ate a vegan lunch, had a chance to engage with the animals and ask questions.

Noelle Ibrahim, Themester Outreach and Events Intern, says most of the programs they have are very informational. The trip to the sanctuary was one hands-on and engaging form of discussion they’ve been able to provide students.

“I think it’s really important that we have themes to which a dialog can occur and for people to expand and explore their own perspectives and maybe challenge them at times,” Ibrahim said. 

At the end of the tour, Mark and Michelle Pruitt gathered the students to have a session where they can ask questions about the sanctuary. The main topics were about animal abuse in the meat industry and possible meat alternatives.

Uplands PEAK also offers student internship programs, animal caretaker positions or volunteer opportunities.

Isabella D’Olier-lees, Animal Caretaker intern, says she wants to have her own sanctuary when she’s graduated college. She says she spends her days taking care of the animals and facilitating educational tours.

“It’s great to see these animals in a happy environment,” she said. “I’ve been vegan for a while and it’s great to get to know everybody’s personalities and they’re just like people ya know.”

Mark Pruitt, Co-Founder of Uplands PEAK, says they’ve only saved a few out of the thousands. He says they want people to come to the sanctuary and make different decisions about their eating habits. If one person goes home and stops eating meat, he says, they will save upwards of 200 animals a year. The couple provided a “Vegetarian Starter Guide” for all the students who went on the trip.

For more information about Uplands PEAK Animal Sanctuary and details about upcoming visiting days or events, visit their website.