Whip City Animal Sanctuary co-founders Robin and Kerry Plourde honored William Reed on Nov. 23 for his donation of 11 acres to the farm animal rescue.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
WESTFIELD — The Whip City Animal Sanctuary family of volunteers and friends honored William Reed on a chilly and damp Saturday morning, Nov. 23, to thank him for his gift of 11 acres to the home for rescued and surrendered farm animals, many of whom have been neglected and abused.
The donation nearly doubles the size of the Whip City Animal Sanctuary, which started in 2020 with the purchase by co-founders Robin and Kerry Plourde of 12 acres off Reed’s homestead on 232 Montgomery Rd., a multigenerational dairy farm established in 1898. Reed now lives on a lake in Southwick.
At the ceremony, the Plourdes unveiled a sign that would be posted on the land and gave Reed a plaque to thank him. WCAF President Robin Plourde said everyone had gathered to honor him and his generous donation. “We are completely full. Now, we’ll be able to build a new barn,” she said, which will allow the sanctuary to be able to say yes to more animals in need of a new home.
“This is not enough,” Kerry Plourde said about the honor.
“I was lucky to be born here,” Reed said after the ceremony. He said his father James W. Reed was also born in the farmhouse. The family moved to the property in 1898, but the house was built around 1816.
“I love the house,” Reed said. “The house is old. None of this chintzy stuff.” When he and his six siblings grew up, there was no heat except for furnace stoves, and they had a two-seater out in the shed. When Reed took it over, he rewired the house and added four bathrooms and a jacuzzi. He said his neighbor, St. Pierre, did a lot of the work on the house.
The floor of the porch is Westfield marble his father put in. Reed remembers going to the river when the quarry ceased operations and they were giving away the marble. He said Westfield marble is in a lot of famous buildings in New York City. His father laid down the stone and put sand in between. “Good old dad — gone 34 years,” he said.
“I was a dairy farmer all my life,” Reed said. At one time, the farm had 175 head of cattle, and the shed held 7,000 bails of hay. He remembered one time a cow was having a calf in the barnyard when it was 70 to 80 degrees below with the wind chill. He helped the cow, and brought the calf in. He said the calf’s ears froze, but the animal survived.
“I hated to leave it,” Reed said about his home, but added that he would never do dairy farming again.
Also there to honor him was Michael Tierney, a friend and neighbor. “Quite a day. I used to buy hay from Billy years ago. We’ve known each other ever since,” he said.
Tierney has a farm on East Mountain Road where he used to raise alpacas, a herd of 3,000 that he showed and sold all over the U.S. Now he raises Black Angus beef cattle that he buys in the spring and sells in the fall. “Six months — the rest of the time farming and maintaining the fields. Once a farmer, always a farmer,” Tierney said.
Reed said he never married, but at his 45th Westfield High School reunion he met Donna Hess, who he remembered from grammar school and high school. They’ve been a couple ever since.
Robin Plourde said the 11 acres was for sale when they first moved there, but they couldn’t afford to buy it. She calls it “an extra blessing.”
When it opened in November of 2020, there were 13 animals residing on the farm. Today, Whip City Animal Sanctuary, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that relies 100% on donations and volunteers, has 74 animals in residence. According to board member Holly Sweatt, there are eight horses, ponies, mules and donkeys; 13 goats, two sheep, 11 pigs, five cows and 35 chickens, roosters, ducks, geese and turkeys. Many of the animals are featured by name and bio on the WCAS website at whipcityanimalsanctuary.com.
Plourde said they plan to build a new barn and a new paddock. She said they get calls every day asking them to take on more animals, a lot of them goats and pigs. “Horses always, when they get older and they’re sadly no use to humans.”
Plourde said they will be undertaking a capital campaign to build the new barn. People can also sponsor an animal through monthly donations, which go toward veterinary care, food and shelter for the animals. The names of sponsors are written on horseshoes nailed to the shed.
On Dec. 6 from 6-8 p.m., the Whip City Animal Sanctuary will be hosting Santa Claus as a thank you to the community. For a canned donation to the Westfield Food Pantry, visitors can get a picture with Santa and some hot chocolate and cookies. The Westfield High School band will also be performing, Robin Plourde said.
