“Shangri La farm Sanctuary became a reality 6 years ago. It actually started years ago in my heart, you could say from the time I was born. I came up with the name and declared loudly for all to hear in grade school that I was going to start a farm sanctuary and call it Shangri La. This was way before farm sanctuaries were very few to non existent. 

Fast forward to now, and my dream has become a reality. My husband Jeff and I started out rescuing senior dogs with disabilities from kill shelters. To date we have rescued over 14 dogs: destined to die alone in a shelter. They have come to us with cancer, blind, deaf, unable to walk. We love them and keep them until it’s time for their spirit walk. While rescuing these incredible beings we decided to start the sanctuary I had always dreamed of. Our first property was 1.5 acres. Along came Maisie and Tatonka. They were literally rescued off a slaughter truck. A bonded pair, Maisie was 30 when she came to us and Tatonka was 12. Our first rescues were here! Maisie was very used to people while Tatonka had obviously been abused. Very afraid of men and petrified of having his ears touched. It took the better part of two years before I could touch his ears and his face with him trusting me to not harm him.

Cisco was our next resident. He came from a severe neglect case in Philadelphia. Cisco is our resident donkey who loves to bray loudly for all to hear. The protector of Shangri La he will let us know if any dogs, hawks or a stranger comes into our yard.

We have also welcomed Bonnie and Clyde. They are two goats who lived outside with no protection from sun, rain or snow and were fed little to nothing for three years. A very kind policeman would feed them and offered them dog houses as shelter as well as warning the owner to take care of them. After the owner signed them over legally to the officer, the officer called us to rescue them and we did! Clyde is a typical male goat. Loves to head butt and twist his horns around your arm or leg. We’ve learned how to interact with him so we are not harmed. Bonnie is a little lovebug. Just as sweet as she can be. 

The ladies of Shangri La as I call them are products of the chicken / egg industry. Living their best life here. They love to hunt for worms and bugs in the garden with supervision of course. 

Daisy and Elmer came from the dairy industry. A dairy farm called us to ask if we’d like to have her come to live out her life here. She was born with no fur! Can you imagine that? She has since developed a sparse coat but still has no fur on her neck or parts of her face. I agree to take her on the condition that she also come with a buddy. They agreed and Elmer came to Shangri La with  her. Right now they are 5 and 4months old. Just adorable beautiful people who love to have their sides scratched. They also love eating my hair and my pant legs. LOL.