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The onslaught of late winter snows in February and here recently in March have taken a severe toll on farms in Wisconsin and Minnesota collapsing barns and killing livestock..

New Richmond's own SoulSpace Farm Sanctuary suffered a barn collapse the week of March 4 in which two farm residents, peacocks Frances and his son, John Luc, were killed. Despite adding reinforcement to the roof this past summer, the weight of the recent wet snow proved to be too much.

"Our sheep barn roof collapsed. We were trying to be preventative by clearing the snow off the roof, but it just ended up being too much for our old barn. Two of our dear peacocks were crushed with the rafters. Everyone else escaped unharmed. We relocated the boys (sheep) down to the big barn and everyone is doing fine," said SoulSpace Founder Kara Breci.

If you are not familiar with the SoulSpace story, Breci, a former St. Paul police officer, bought the 11-acre farm complete with its 19th century farmhouse and assorted out buildings in 2015. The first rescues to call SoulSpace home were three sheep, Frederick, George and Oliver, rescued from Craigslist ads selling lambs for meat. The sheep joined Amos the donkey, peacocks Francis and Claire and a flock of chickens Breci inherited with the farm. Little did Breci know her farm was destined for headlines. When Wally the pig made his break for freedom off the back of a livestock truck on Interstate 90 in Sioux Falls, S.D., he jumped right into Breci's heart and practically overnight they put SoulSpace on the farm animal rescue map.

Today SoulSpace is a forever home to 50 farm animals, all rescued and all with a story woven together with Breci's love and supported by a growing number of compassionate volunteers.

Luckily the farm has another larger barn, with a newer roof, which will become the new home for refugees from the collapsed barn, Amos the donkey, the sheep and Tallie the goat. Volunteers are scrambling to put up stalls for the new boarders hopefully without complications from any more heavy snows.

Breci will be the first to explain that projects on the farm never end and with the collapse of the barn, more donations will be needed.

"We are going to be working on funding for renovation of the big barn. We've got to fix doors and get part of the floor fixed and get the stalls made for in there. So that's our main priority right now. We're also expecting some flooding this spring from all the snow so we're preparing drainage down by the pig barn which is the lowest spot on the property. We're going to work with the fire department to take the rest of the collapsed barn down and then begin fundraising for a new one. That barn was the main hub for a lot of our residents," said Breci.

Breci was extremely grateful for the support she received when word got out about the barn. Folks showed up almost immediately. She realizes volunteers are the lifeblood of SoulSpace and she is ever so grateful.

"It was a devastating week with the loss of two of our babes, but we will get through this. I made a couple calls when this happened and people were here immediately and helping with all of it. That was huge. Our volunteers are amazing. We're so grateful to be in this community where we have so much love and support," said Breci.

Tickets go on sale April 7 for SoulSpace's second annual Wally Jumpiversary fundraiser to be held May 18, at The Lab Theater in Minneapolis. For more information go to: soulspacesanctuary.org.

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