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Lisa Marie Sopko and her husband John, as reported by The Times, own "the 20-acre, nonprofit farm that's been a sanctuary for neglected, abused, or abandoned animals for more than a year." Keeping the sanctuary going and the animals happy, of course, requires quite a bit of funds, but Spoko is ambitious and is aiming to expand her sanctuary and build a "multi-use barn to serve as temporary emergency shelter for humane officers statewide to house hoarded or neglected animals or as a pop-up shelter for animals needing housing due to natural disasters."
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To get closer to her goal, Spoko decided to hold a yoga class, and to encourage the people to participate, she let these rescued animals join in on the fun as well. "Are there any animals that you might be afraid of? Anybody afraid of chickens or turkeys, goats, sheep?" is what she said to start off the class, and we know that if we ever heard that from out yoga instructor, we'd immediately get really excited.
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"I'm not exactly sure how it's going to go," Spoko was honest with the participants. "I expect that they're (animals) going to be very interactive." Of course, she also warned them to be careful whenever doing specific positions, like upward dog poses, since the animals might take these poses as a challenge to them. "Keep your eyes out for the animals that have horns," and "[i]f you see something running toward you, just stand up."
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The animals were perfect gentleman though, as they were much more interested in enjoying nature and nibbling the grass. And the humans made sure to be kind and careful too, enjoying the animals as they were gradually introduced to this strange new activity of yoga. There were cows participating as well as goats and a pony.
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Spoko is hoping to hold more of these events to reach her goal of $62,000 for the new farm. So far, "about $30,000 has been raised." The 25$ that each of the 39 participants of the class payed got added to that goal. "I'm pleased with the turnout," Spoko said. "It's wonderful. I had expected maybe 15 to 20 people." About future yoga events, Spoko said: "I think it's going to be something that's so great for the people as well as the animals."
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To help reach her goal and donate, you can visit her website or Facebook page, and checks made payable to Kindred Spirits Rescue Ranch, you can mail to 500 Hodgson Road, Darlington, PA 16115. And for more heartwarming animal rescue stories, read about these adorable rescued bulldog pups whose story got its happy ending.
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