INTRUDERS DAMAGE FENCING, RELEASE ANIMALS AT CHILDREN’S NATURE RETREAT

March 2019 Articles

By Miriam Raftery

March 7, 2019 (Alpine) –The Children’s Nature Retreat in Alpine is temporarily closed due to damage done by unknown intruders. In a letter to supporters, the retreat’s owners sent photos of damage and revealed that on Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m., they discovered that three fences had been cut with a heavy-duty tool, rolled back and laid on the ground, allowing sheep, donkeys and African animals to be released from their enclosures.

“The zebras, watusis and zebus could have been seriously hurt,” the letter sent on March 6 by Agenes Barrelet, Director, states. “Fortunately, only minor cuts and scrapes were the result of this malicious act.”

The Sheriff’s department is investigating the crime.

The retreat is asking for public help to keep the retreat open in the future for school children and other visitors. Donations will be used to repair fencing and upgrade security to protect the animals.

If you would like to donate, click here: https://childrensnatureretreat.org/product/donation/?mc_cid=edb19ff401&mc_eid=9bdad4aae5

Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.