Winterpast Farm

"I will begin by admitting that I have never personally visited Winterpast, but live in the area and drive by the “farm” several times a week. I have been quite concerned about the welfare of the animals as the shelters I can see from the road are clearly inadequate- falling apart, some with blue tarps. Quite often I see some of her animals in the road dodging cars. I have stopped a couple of times to inform the owner that her animals have escaped, but haven’t been able to find her or anyone on the property. Twice my husband and I have stopped to pick up dogs that were supposed to be in her care, who were in the road. Both times we have had trouble reaching the owner (or anyone) and have had to leave voice mail messages. When we finally heard back from the owner, she was incredibly unconcerned. One of the times she admitted that she noticed the dog (who she was caring for for a client) was missing, but she hadn’t bothered looking for him. Another concerning instance was when one of my neighbor’s teenage children “rented” one of her rabbits and never returned it. Mary, the owner, never contacted my neighbor or her child to follow- up on the rabbit’s whereabouts or welfare. Thankfully for the bunny he was well taken care of by my neighbors and found himself a much better home in the wake of Mary’s negligence. Recently I have noticed signs indicating that she is opening a boarding business. I implore anyone who cares for their dogs to never ever leave them with Mary at her farm. She is extremely negligent with the animals in her care."

"I didn't take any pictures because we came here on a whim to drop off pumpkins and get out of the house after a sleepless night. I was worried at first when we drove up and I saw signs about appointments - I try to be diligent about reading for that kind of thing. Farmer Mary was nothing but kind when we got out and assured us she would happily show me and my baby around. She took her time introducing all of the animals, showing love to each one. The dogs were so sweet (Rosie, Julie and Henry went with us everywhere to our delight) and my daughter was obsessed with the chickens. Farmer Mary walked us around and made sure my daughter saw as many animals as she could. She even showed us an Emu nest with eggs- they are beautiful!!! We talked most of the visit back and forth, and upon leaving as my daughter needed to nap, Farmer Mary brought her a chicken ornament to put on our tree since she loves chickens so so much. It warmed my heart, and she instantly loved it. I saw some of the negative reviews but decided to give it a try as I know so many places who rescue or take in discarded animals are struggling right now with how people are treating their pets and I'm so glad we did. We will be stopping back by when we have more time so my daughter can love on the chickens some more! Thanks, Farmer Mary!!"

"This place is well worth the visit! Our whole family has fun with all the critters and friendly.family that runs the farm. Rosey the great Dane is my personal favorite but so many wonderful animals, all super friendly."

"I went today to Winterpast Farm with my young adult daughter. We had a delightful time today. There is nothing like feeding animals, and was just a much needed break from life. The animals were well taken care of. I’m not sure why the negative reviews, because it is a farm. They were all taken care of. Farmer Mary taught us the correct size to cut up the vegetables and fruit for her animals. She even took a lot of time cutting up the food for us, because I had most of it cut up too large. She showed us the best ways to feed her animals. Growing up in suburba( Cary), I didn’t know this kind of thing. She was very patient with us, even when we messed up and forgot things. I highly recommend this place. I will definitely be going back again!"

"We went here over a year ago and raved about it to our friends, the kids would run around feeding animals for hours. This time we were in an out in less than 30 minutes. Before, Lots of animal and lots of room for them, fresh bedding, etc. This time.... It's almost as if it has gotten out of control. The kids were terrified to get down as there had to be chickens ranging in the 100-200 range. Animal shelters are in disarray and damaged. Guinea pigs and rabbit cages filled all over the place, almost too many to take adequate care of. We were amazed before, we won't be back again after seeing it kind of explode out of control. Attached are a few pictures from our visit."