Our Mission
To provide lifelong sanctuary and compassionate care of animals in need. Our goal is to lead with kindness for all kinds.
Compassionate rehabilitation and cooperative care.
Each animal in our care is treated as an individual with their own unique experiences that have shaped their personalities and behaviors in their daily life. This not only encompasses their everyday and specific medical needs, but also their social, enrichment, movement, and environmental needs. The ultimate goal for each resident is for them to feel comfortable and thrive in their daily lives as individuals and part of their family groups. In addition to this, develop trust and comfortability in their interactions with their caretakers and our goal to provide them with the care and tools to live a fulfilled life.
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We achieve this by taking the time to meet each resident where they are and creating a unique care and training plan based on their individual needs, strengths and challenges. This process requires patience, awareness and kindness to help residents overcome any struggles and feel comfortable working together. We use researched learning theory called positive reinforcement for training and enrichment tools to build confidence, understanding and cooperation, along with our own long term and ever- growing learning of animal behavior. The intentionality behind our smaller sanctuary aids in this mission by allowing us to spend the time and resources needed for each individual resident to achieve this goal.
Intentional integration and management of the land and surrounding ecosystem
We are so grateful for the land that provides our residents with an enriched environment to live. Currently, about 3 acres of our 13 acres is in use for sanctuary residents, while the remaining 10 acres act as a home to a thriving natural ecosystem. We understand the importance of prioritizing the health and longevity of this land, not only as a home to our residents, but to many species of plants and wildlife. Domestic animals can have a detrimental impact to the health and vitality of the land if management measures are not considered when integrating the two. We strive to recognize the impact of our domestic animals and believe with intentional management, they can share the land without negative impacts to the longevity of the ecosystem. This requires prioritizing the needs of the land first by implementing erosion control, the rotation, resting, and maintenance of various paddocks and enclosures to minimize soil degradation, manure management, proper drainage and runoff control, overall vegetation and tree health, and habitat consideration for wildlife species.
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Our sanctuary is located at the edge of a state park and bordered by conservation land that acts as an important corridor and habitat for a large population of wildlife species. We strive to provide a balance of space for movement, environmental enrichment and safety measures for the residents while being mindful of the above factors. We also implement various sustainability practices including composting manure and food waste, seasonal vegetable and flower gardens, allow for the natural growth of native weeds, wildflowers and plants for native insect species, avoid using any pesticides or chemicals, create various habitat features for wildlife, and utilize solar energy when possible. This mission aids in the small and mindful capacity and growth of our sanctuary and our ecological footprint.
Share the stories of our residents and our practices to provide educational tools and awareness for our community.
Our hope is that our small sanctuary can have a large impact when it comes to addressing the many issues surrounding the animal care industry and large scale animal agriculture practices, including both the animal welfare and environmental concerns surrounding these industries . We believe educating ourselves and others is the first step to initiate and inspire change that everyone can partake in to help break down the barriers and enact needed change. We hope our resident’s stories will encourage others to examine their own impact on other sentient beings and their environment. We also strive to generate awareness for kind and compassionate care and training approaches while being in the presence or working with various species of animals. We challenge the status quo of what historically may be considered “acceptable” through traditional approaches and instead adopt a progressive mindset and application of what different animals and their environment needs to thrive. We honor the mindset that although as humans we have the ability to exert power over other living beings, that does not mean we should expect or require other living beings to provide a purpose solely for our benefit.