Meet Kratos

Not every rescue has a happy ending, but we believe we gave Kratos a good end to his very hard life.

Kratos came to us in January 2024, the second one for us to bring to the farm from an auction. A BIG GIANT Belgian who had worked his entire life pulling equipment for the Amish. We loved him IMMEDIATELY. He was a gentle giant who learned to love us quickly. He was very unsure of why we would pet him, or try to get him to eat cookies, carrots, apples. He was bred to WORK, and to have this kind of a life was nothing he had every known and he didn't understand it.

Check out his new appreciation for life with this video: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1957535211349108

Once he was done his quarantine, however, he quickly figured out what a life without work could be, and he loved it. He would come trotting up to us in the field, eventually took treats, Abby even rode him! He loved to be brushed and rubbed on. His body was way older than his actual age, but he gently became the head of the herd, and took control of our more aggressive young ones. He belonged to each of us, and we loved him dearly.

One evening, we were all in the field, it was the dead of summer and incredibly hot, and he went down. We knew immediately something was wrong, and we got him up and started walking him. Within a few minutes he went down again, and again, and again. Eight times he went down and we got him back up. He was pouring sweat, but had a fever, he was weak, his eyes were so sad, but we were fighting to keep him alive, and he was fighting for us.

Eventually, the vet came, and scanned his belly, and we discovered he had a twisted gut. Nothing could be done. We let him lay down, and we all laid with him for awhile. Then we removed him from the field, and he was humanely euthanized. We all laid with him for a couple hours after the vet left and grieved our big gentle giant. Even as I write this, tears stream down my face. He tried so hard to live for us, and he gave us so much joy in the short time he was with us.

A video of his short time with us can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/979406177017165

After he died, I wasn't sure we could keep rescuing. It was so hard on my daughter, especially, and I didn't want to continue to expose her to so much pain. But as a family, we agreed to continue, and that the pain was worth the joy and the memories we had of the good life he finally had with us in the end. Every animal deserves to know love, have a full belly, and feel safe. We gave him that. We miss you, Kratos, every single day.