Jon Stewart Animal Sanctuary With Wife Tracey Approved By New Jersey Township
Jon Stewart really seems to be making the most out of his retirement from the Daily Show, and one of his projects, a 45-acre animal sanctuary planned with his wife, Tracey, has been approved by the board of Colts Neck, New Jersey, for a proposed 2018 opening.
Plans for the sanctuary focus on taking care of rescued farm animals, including cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens. The Stewarts will also be growing crops with a focus on sustainable agriculture. According to NJ.com, the animal sanctuary will also offer educational tours to schools and the public on a reservation and invitation basis. Special events will also be planned with a focus on getting the greater community involved, which Jon Stewart stressed is an important aspect of the project.
“So much of the project is about community. So you want the community that you are invested in to want you to be there and to be invested in it as well,” Jon Stewart said. “You want it to be mutual love, not unrequited love.”
Jon and Tracey Stewart purchased the Hockshockson farm, the site of the planned animal sanctuary, in 2016, reportedly paying $4 million for the property, which includes a historic manor built in 1777, two smaller cottages, a pool, pond, equine facility and arena, six barns, five pastures, five paddocks, and a farmstand area. Tracey Stewart is a renowned animal activist, whose book, Do Unto Animals: A Friendly Guide to How Animals Live, and How We Can Make Their Lives Better, reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list in 2015.
Tracey Stewart presented the plans for the animal sanctuary before the Colts Neck board on Tuesday night and it was approved unanimously. Only one member of the community present at the meeting raised any specific concerns at the end of her presentation.
“I’d like to know how much this is going to cost me,” Jon Stewart joked.
In May of 2016, Jon and Tracey Stewart made headlines when they adopted an abandoned horse named Lily that was found malnourished and covered in paint, according to Philadelphia Inquirer. Lily was sore to the touch and believed to have been shot by over 100 paintballs when she was rescued. Despite the Stewarts’ best efforts, Lily died from a fall a month after they adopted her.
According to Asbury Park Press, members of the Colts Neck community have expressed overwhelming support for the Stewart animal sanctuary.
“This is the first of its kind in this area. If there was ever a time to err on the side of approval,” said community member Jay Saleh. “This facility has the opportunity to be a crown jewel for Colts Neck.”
The Stewarts will be partnering with Farm Sanctuary, a national farm animal protection nonprofit, to help with the logistics of running an animal sanctuary and to locate new animals when space is available. The sanctuary will not be set up as a drop-off location for local community members to leave abandoned animals, but local organizations that offer such services will be listed on the sanctuary’s website.
Jon Stewart retired from The Daily Show in 2015. During that time he’s made occasional talk show appearances and has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Stewart appeared frequently as a guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert during the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in 2016, lending his trademark political wit and pointed commentary to the broadcasts. According to Variety, Jon Stewart will premiere a new animated news parody show on HBO sometime in 2017, specific details of which have not yet been released.
Jon and Tracey Stewart are realizing a personal dream by opening their animal sanctuary, and in the process, they will be helping animals and contributing to their community, educating children and enriching lives as they go.
[Featured Image by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images]
