Phill the domesticated water buffalo’s escape into the suburban streets of Pleasant Hill in late August captured the attention and imagination of people nationwide. It came to an end after five days when Phill was found, subdued with a tranquilizer dart and sent to Iowa State University’s Large Animal Hospital in Ames to receive medical attention. Phill had jumped the fence and fled from an owner who bought the young water buffalo a few weeks previously with the intention of butchering him for meat.
The story of Phill’s five days of freedom was given a happy coda when it was announced the owner had surrendered the animal to Iowa Farm Sanctuary (IFS) in Oxford.
The 40-acre sanctuary provides a home for animals like Phill or Henry, a one-eyed turkey rescued after a tornado wrecked the building on a turkey farm where Henry and 30,000 other turkeys were housed, and approximately 150 other animals. The nonprofit was founded in 2015 by Jared and Shawn Camp “to provide a safe haven for rescued farm animals in need of love and compassion while providing humans the opportunity to experience the unique sentience and intelligence found within these animals,” as IFS’ site explains.
Jane Nesmith wrote about Iowa Farm Sanctuary in Little Village’s special Bread and Butter issue this year. Henry the one-eyed turkey is featured in the story, but Phill isn’t. The story was published before Phill jumped the fence and people were suddenly aware of water buffalo in Iowa.
Phill hasn’t arrived at the sanctuary yet. He’s still at ISU’s Large Animal Hospital, where the veterinarians are planning to operate to remove shotgun pellets from his abdomen. During the first encounter between a suddenly free-roaming Phill and the police on Aug. 24, an officer shot him. According to the police, Phill was being aggressive and the officer, concerned about his and his fellow officers’ safety and lacking a tranquilizer dart that could bring down an animal Phill’s size, used a shotgun. Phill ran off after being wounded.
It’s true that water buffalos in the wild can be extremely dangerous animals, and are more lethal to people on the continent of Africa than almost any other animal except hippopotamuses, mosquitoes and other humans. But Phill’s not that kind of buffalo; He’s an Asian buffalo, not an African buffalo. Asian buffalo are smaller and have been domesticated for centuries.
Farmers throughout Asia use them in the same way farmers in this country utilize oxen — to plow the fields, pull wagons and provide other essential labor around the farm. The cows are also kept for milking, and both cows and bulls can be raised for their meat. That was Phill’s fate, until he made his escape.
In an update on Phill on the IFS Facebook page this week, Jared Camp explained that they had learned that Phill was one of four domesticated water buffalo the former owner purchased from a breeder in Kansas a few weeks ago.
“Immediately when he brought them home, he did slaughter one of the buffalo,” Camp said.
And the other two?
“The owner agreed to surrender both water buffalo to us,” Camp said.
The pair — one female, one male — arrived at IFS on Tuesday.
“They’re currently in our medical wing right now, as they kind of decompress after everything that’s happened over the last few weeks,” he explained.
Phill will join them when he’s released from the hospital, and when they are all acclimatized, they’ll join the other bovines freely grazing at the sanctuary.
In another post, Shawn Camp revealed the two newcomers have been named Jane (“Like Jane Goodall”) and Sal. Phill picked up his name during his brief career as Polk County’s most famous fugitive. It’s a contraction of Pleasant Hill.
In their updates this week, the Camps thanked the community for rallying around Phill.
“It doesn’t always go that way,” Shawn Camp said. “It certainly doesn’t usually happen where we would even be able to rescue Phill. But the community really rallied for him, and the public pressure certainly helped get Phill to sanctuary.”
The public interest in Phil also helped press his former owner into sending Jane and Sal, as they are now known, to the safety of the sanctuary.
“We hope that you’ll keep cheering them on, because they’ve got a long road to recovery,” she added. “Especially Phill.”
IFS has set up a Patreon page — the Moo Crew — for people wanting to support Phill. There are also other ways to contribute to help IFS continue its work. Phill isn’t the only sanctuary resident at ISU for veterinary care this week — Addison, a charming goat rescued from an abandoned farm where she was left tethered, is also in Ames for surgery.
IFS also has some special fundraising events coming up.
On Saturday starting at 4 p.m. there will be Willy’s Wine ‘n’ Watercolor. The three-hour event is a painting-while-sipping-wine fundraiser at the Sanctuary. (Willy is another hefty rescued bovine now living his best life in Oxford.)
Registration is also now open for Carl’s 5K and Fall Fest on Sunday, Oct. 13, which is named in honor of a now-departed IFS resident.
“Carl’s 5K is unlike any race you’ve ever participated in before, as the course will again wind around our beautiful sanctuary grounds — our rescued residents cheering you on as you go,” according to the event description.
And on Sunday afternoon, there will be the weekly Sunday Stroll, in which visitors can walk the unpaved trail through the 40-acres of the farmstead and meet some of its rescued residents. The entrance fee for the stroll is $10 for adults and $8 for kids.
The Iowa Farm Sanctuary is located at 1696 250th St NW in Oxford.
