Erin founded Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary with three rescued cows in 2016, and is currently president of the Board of Directors. Her road to rescue started where most such things naturally begin: with a rat. At age 7, her mother told her she could finally have her first pet, a hamster. Ecstatic, she went to the pet store to pick out her hamster. But as she held a couple hamsters, who only wanted to pee on her, bite her, or run away from her, a young woman working at the pet store asked her if she had ever considered a rat. She and her mother exchanged looks. A rat? People have pet rats? The young woman explained that rats are wonderful little animals, but no one gives them a chance because they are unfairly judged to be bad and unworthy. Erin held the rat, and he was sweet. There was no biting, there was no running away. He did pee on her, though. Guess which animal she came home with? That rat, named Templeton, taught her a lot about how society can treat very differently two species of animal who would seem to be very similar...
You can read the rest of Erin's bio and story here.