Sanctuary farm in Chatham-Kent victim of second fire in less than a year

A sanctuary farm for animals in Chatham-Kent experienced its second fire in less than a year.

In a news release Monday, Chatham-Kent police said emergency crews responded to a fire Sunday after 1 a.m. at a trailer onCharlotte's Freedom Farm on Brook Line in Dresden.

No humans or animals were injured due to the fire, but damage is estimated at $15,000, police said in a news release.

The fire is being treated as "suspicious" and the Ontario Fire Marshall's Office has been called in to help with the investigation, police said.

In a post to Instagram, Charlotte's Freedom Farm said it experienced "a very traumatic attack." Farm operators declined an interview but said in the social media post that the trailer was empty and set on fire around 1:30 a.m.

This is the second fire the farm has experienced it's first was July 1, 2020, when one of its barns burned down.

The fire killed 22 animals, includingone dog, a one-year-old pony and five cats.

"The trauma and grief from that night stays with us almost a year later," the farm's Instagram post reads.

The post continued to say that the farm received a "threatening letter" in October last year, which contained "hate speech." On Sunday, the farm said it found another similar letter.

CBC News has not confirmed this with police.

All of the animals at Charlotte's Freedom Farm are farm-rescuesand have been rehabilitated after experiencing abuse or neglect.