Category: Featured Animals

Sam spent the first part of his life living in a test lab but after being released to us he immediately started making up for lost time outdoors. He is the first to greet you at the gate when entering the potbelly area and has the biggest personality you have ever seen. His favorite things are running, his best friend Cashew and getting rubbed down with sunscreen on hot days.

Cashew was rescued after she developed a prolapse and her previous guardian couldn’t afford the surgery she needed to save her life. She was set to be euthanized but refused to get in the crate to go to the appointment and that night we were contacted to rescue her. Immediately after rescue she was rushed straight to UC Davis to have surgery and recovered there until she was ready to come home to FAR for the rest of her life.

In March of 2020 we welcomed five lovely goats. These beautiful goats suffered multiple coyote attacks to their herd before joining Farm Animal Refuge.

To keep goats safe, they need a barn at night and tall fences in the day time!

This group looks like they walked out of a fairy tale, which is why we often refer to them as “The Magics.”

Benny: Benny is funny and sassy, he is blueberry’s son and the two are always together.

Fonzie: Fonzie is the shiest of the group, but is very sweet after he gets to know you. Fonzie is Benny’s brother and the two are very close.

Guinness: Guinness was a twin and unfortunately lost his brother before coming to the refuge. We think this is why he loves to spend time with Brian and Liam. Guinness is a very lovey goat and is Blueberry’s boyfriend!

Donald: Donald is the oldest goat at the refuge and is a friend to all. He enjoys spending his days with Dude (another senior goat) and Honey.

Blueberry: Blueberry is Benny’s mom and a fearless leader! She is one tough lady and is the queen of this little family. Though she may be small, all of the goats respect her. She even puts Mocha in line occasionally!

Kyle was rescued at a young age from a livestock auction. His front legs could not hold his weight and bowed to the sides. After over a year of splinting and getting special casts at UC Davis, Kyle made a full recovery! He moved on from the special needs herd to join the big goats!

Kyle is a la mancha goat, they are typically bred for goat diary. Because Kyle is a male goat, he wont ever make milk. Male goats in the dairy industry face slaughter at a young age. Thankfully, Kyle is here instead!

Kyle is a mischievous goat with a big heart. She loves all people, but his favorite human is Carlye!

Kyle loves leaves, pumpkins, being silly, and getting into trouble!

Ariel was rescued after her goat herd suffered mountain lion attacks. She was one of the only members of her herd to survive.

To keep goats safe, they need a barn at night and tall fences in the day time!

Ariel made fast friends with Holly who also lost her family to mountain lions before coming to the refuge. Ariel is the first goat to the barn at dinner time, and loves to play with her goat friends. She is sweet to all of the goats in the herd, but spends most of her time with Kyle and Holly.

Winston and Mac made their way to sunny California all the way from Ohio! They were raised for a 4H program. 4H is a youth program where children raise farmed animals and typically send them to a local fair. At the fair, the animals are auctioned to the highest bidder usually for meat.

When the fair is over, the children say goodbye to their animal friends who usually face slaughter. The young woman raising these goats wanted a better ending for these boys! Matt drove over 70 hours to get these boys home safe!

Winston and Mac are boer goats. They have many friends in the big goat herd and love to greet guests at tours.

Lenny was unfortunately abused and neglected before joining the Farm Animal Refuge family. Despite his past, Lenny is an angel. He enjoys napping in the sunshine and being brushed. He loves all visitors and fits in well with the other goats. Lenny is a volunteer favorite and is an absolute pleasure to spend time with. His best friends are Mary and Winston and he has a huge crush on Holly.

Jeffy is a truly special goat and a funny boy! Jeffy was loved before joining us here at the refuge. However, Jeffy was all alone! An only goat is a lonely goat, so Jeffy was acting out and headbutting. Now that he has friends in the goat herd, he is one of the nicest animals at the refuge and one of the first to greet you on a tour! Jeffy is a senior dude and still working on his social skills with the other goats, but he is a very good boy and doing great!

Meet Holly. She had to be picked up before sunset to make it through the night. She lost her family herd of 8 to mountain lion attacks over a few days. And she managed to not get injured. It’s almost to remarkable to believe, other than when Matt picked him up, he saw the others that didn’t make it. 😓⁣⁣

She will be the First Lady goat joining the big herd! And we can’t wait to watch her blossom.

Mary was brought to us after her Mom had a complicated pregnancy. Sheep have been selectively bred to carry more babies and Mary’s Mom has triplets. On passed during birth, and one was born healthy.

Because of her own complicated health, Mary’s mom rejected her. This can happen from having too many babies or poor nutrition. Mary’s Mom has just been taken from a meat farm, so it explains why she wasn’t healthy.

Mary was TINY she was only 2 pounds! Mary’s mom and brother are safe with a family who loves them. And we were able to get Mary the care and attention she needed.

Mary looks like a goat, but she is actually a hair sheep! Blackbelly Barbados.

This handsome little guy was at a letting zoo when he was a baby. He was then given to a man who left him behind with 16 other animals at a property near us.⁣⁣

All of the other animals have been safely placed into great homes that we are so thankful for ✨.

He is a dwarf goat, and Fred is super glad to have someone his size around!⁣

Emerson is a GOOF BALL. He’s always being silly and playful.

Fred came to the farm after he was trampled by a goat herd and dogs.

Fred suffered a spinal injury and has lost the use of his back legs. He is happy, healthy, and very Mobile in his cart!

He sleeps with his little pal Emerson and spends most days with Charlotte.

Mama Carol gave birth in a high kill shelter.

She was confiscated by animal control after being abandoned on a property with several other pigs. She gave birth to six beautiful piglets at the shelter!

We picked up this whole family the day she gave birth. They had a lot of ups and downs, but Mama Carol and all six piglets: Josie, Oliver, Fiona, Dora, Phoebe, Willow have become happy healthy little pigs!

Joshua AKA Joshy Poshy was raised by our amazing rescue friend Hannah Shaw. You can check out the great work she does by visiting the Orphan Kitten Club website.

He was abandoned in a park and was the only survivor of his litter. Hannah raised him into a happy healthy boy. Josh is sweet, out going, and has a big personality to match how big he will grow!

Joshua is a Kune Kune mix and will be about over 200lbs when he grows up!

There is no such thing as a “mini pig” but we will love him just the same when he is a big boy!

This photo was taken right before we picked Harley up to bring him to the refuge! In the photo is Harley’s human, Gina.

Hes such a good boy already. We often rescue animals from neglect and abuse. It’s not often we get a call from someone like Gina.

Harley’s human has serious health issues and can no longer care for Harley, but we are so happy to give him a home!

Brian and Liam were surrendered by a local goat dairy farmer.

Did you know that a goat has to have a baby to produce goat milk? The boys are actually a byproduct of the industry because they will never make milk. These young boys are usually sold for slaughter.

But the farmer showed compassion and gave these twins to us instead.

Abigail and Rashida were confiscated by animal control and were our first adoption through Farm Sanctuary.

Before Farm Sanctuary stepped in, they were at a sheep dairy. Feta and Ricotta are just two examples of mainstream sheep dairy products?

These two were bred and milked their whole lives, even when they were starved. They lost wool, lived amongst 50-60 fallen friends, and had a body score of 1 which is extremely malnourished and neglected?

Their situation is COMMON. Dairy is a brutal industry that not only separates families. But also exploits women. Did you know that sheep only produce milk to feed their babies? Babies are taken from the mothers so humans can use the breast milk for themselves.

Dairy is scary and we are so thankful to give these girls the forever they deserve.

We are also thankful for Farm Sanctuary for allowing us to adopt them. They literally wrote the book on animal care, and are such a strong resource and example for new rescues like us.

This little angel was all the way in Mississippi and needed a home and a herd that would fit her needs. She was being raised at a goat meat farm and lost her leg due to an accident with a horse. When no rescues locally were found, it was so obvious that would should take her in!

Tucker is still a little weak in the back legs and needed a friend that was the same speed.

The day after we saw she was still not placed, we flew Matt to Mississippi and sent a mobile vet to check on her. She was cleared for transport, and Matt picked her up around 3am the next day!

Charolette and Tucker are our little special needs herd, and they co-parent incoming babies.

This little lady was such a great addition to our family! We love her!

She was confiscated due to neglect and landed in a high kill shelter with her babies. The babies all passed away at the shelter and Mama Darla was in danger of euthanasia.

She doesn’t deserve that. We aren’t sure what happened to her in her old life, what happened to her ears, or her babies. But what we do know is…. FROM NOW ON, she will know nothing but the love and respect she deserves.

Meet Hope. Hope was rescued from a situation here in San Diego. 24 pigs in total were removed from a local feed store. They were housed in kennels, fed dog food, and not given access to mud, sunshine, pig friends, and all the things piggies love most. This rescue wasn’t easy. Our friends at Saving Animals and Healing Hearts and our friend and website Guru, Ray Gross, worked for months behind the scenes to ensure there was no piggy left behind and eventually the family agreed to surrender all of the pigs. Hope being one of them.

Mocha came from the same farm as Sherman and Chance! Almost two years ago, we received a call and I can remember it like yesterday. A farmers daughter in law asked if we could take in a baby goat, Chance. We happily did and loved him so much. We gave them our phone number and let the farmer know to call us if they ever had a sick baby or unwanted goat that they would surrender to us. And a year later Matt left with little baby Sherman in his arms. Here’s the exciting story about Mocha! Mocha was raised by the daughter in law, she is an animal lover and helped Mocha when he was just a baby. Mocha lived at the farm and he was the buck they used for breeding. Annnnd he is Sherman’s Dad! The farmer is getting out of goat farming and the daughter in law, Makayla, let us know Mocha was looking for a home and obviously we couldn’t resist another Sherman on the farm!

Future Farmers of America (FFA) is a program where young students raise an animal as part of an agricultural class. These students raise a young animal to “market weight” and then compete in showmanship and auction them off at fairs. Some students join the program because they dream of being farmers…but most are just kids who want to be close to an animal or want to pursue a veterinary career. These animals are almost always sold for meat at the end of the auction.

Lilac was raised by a young lady that had compassion and loved Lilac, despite being advised against it, she surrendered this little lamb to us! These animals are auctioned at 6-8 months for food, a sad ending for both the animal that learned to trust humans and the student that loved and cared for the animal.

The young lady that surrendered Lilac wanted her to live a full happy life at a Sanctuary and we were happy to take her in.

Lilac is one of the most outgoing animals at the farm, she loves attention, treats, and her bestie Alice the sheep. She plays with Sherman, crushes on Dream, and kisses the cows through the fence. She is absolutely Ms. Congeniality of the refuge and we are so lucky to have her.

Dream was actually bought as a “market lamb” (for meat) off the app Over Up. For those you technologically challenged like us it’s the millennial version of Craigslist.

A man thought he was cute and didn’t want him to be eaten and brought Dream home as a house pet. Dream lived in a suburban home with two Pomeranians until the man realized he could not keep a sheep as a house pet and reached out to Farm Sanctuary, who referred him to us!

Dream spends most days paling around with his bro Tucker and he is the sweetest little lamb you’ve ever met. He has a long fluffy tail (sheep have tails but they are typically cropped in the industry). He runs to greet our cars when we get home, is so gentle with Tucker (who is special needs) and he still loves to run into our house 🙂 I guess once a house sheep, always a house sheep! He loves his people and dog time, but is learning quickly to join the sheep and goat herd.

Diamond and Harmony-(rescue No. 6 and 7) also known simply as “The Girls” were rescued October 28, 2016 , from a backyard butcher . They were both very sick upon arrival- underweight, and fighting pneumonia and mange. We nursed them back to health, and now they’re thriving and rambunctious.

It’s fairly rare in animal agriculture for farm animals to get to stay with their relatives or animal friends, so we are grateful to be able to keep these sisters together. They love to spend time with their pen-mate, Firecracker, whom they both love to play and hang with.

Despite being sisters, Diamond and Harmony have distinct and unique personalities- as do all pigs and sisters.

DIAMOND is the sweet and prissy sister. She loves to play in the water and give kisses! She licks our faces just like a dog. DIAMOND’s distinctive marking is the full spot on her nose, whereas Harmony has a half-spot on her nose.

HARMONY is the rough and tumble sister, who seems to always be getting herself into trouble. She’s got a bit of a tom-boy personality and loves playing in the mud. HARMONY’s distinctive marking is the half spot on her nose , whereas Diamond has a full spot on her nose.

Meet Rudy – The fourth rescue and first pot-belly pig. Rudy was rescued on September 3, 2016. He found his way to Farm Animal Refuge after landing in a high-kill shelter as a stray. He was found roaming the streets of Pomona, CA – an area that is not zoned for pot-belly pigs. We traveled to Pomona to pick up Rudy – a pig we were told was a 1.5 year old female, but turned out to be a 3-month old male who was not yet neutered.

Rudy’s first nights here consisted of sleeping in the house on the floor with his rescuers. Rudy adores his dog brothers and mimicked much of their behavior, which explains why he knows how to sit for treats! While Rudy pals around with the other pot-belly pigs, he was most connected to Chance. They shared lettuce , and many naps together.

While Rudy may think he’s a dog, he is very much a pot-belly pig, he is a very big boy, and still growing. Rudy would like to remind all his fans that pigs require special care and most cities have specific zoning restrictions against them.

Nellie was found by a good samaritan in the mountains of San bernandino, CA. It appeared she had been dumped there along with her little house, the only shred of her past life she was left with. That man brought Nellie to his home and held her until a permanent home was found here with us. We first heard about Nellie from social media page dedicated to potbellys that need homes. As her story touched us so much we watched and waited hoping she would find her forever home. It appeared she had once been a loved pet and we wanted her to have the chance at that again, a home with only a few pigs and some dedicated loving owners. Her post kept appearing and after a couple weeks we knew she belonged here. Nellie is the perfect combination of sass and affection. She will immediately roll over for a belly rub but tell you when she is done. Her favorite thing is to do is find a quiet shaded area and to nap the afternoon away.

Bios will be added soon.

Thor is a very special pot-belly pig at Farm Animal Refuge, the fifth addition, who was rescued on September 22, 2016. Thor was thought to be a “mini-pig” , but actually grew to be a full-size pot belly. Thor is a walking, snorting myth buster, proving once again that “mini-pig” is a mythical label attributed to pigs who are actually deprived of nutrients to stunt their growth. Thor’s family relinquished him to Farm Animal Refuge due to his size.

Thor is a very sensitive pig, earning him much admiration from the volunteers and visitors at Farm Animal Refuge who can see through his tough exterior. Thor is very opinionated and definitely has a mind of his own. While Thor also knows how to sit for treats, he does so only on his own terms. He is the gentlest while taking treats and is always making it very clear that he wants a belly rub.

Grace was Rescue No. 9 for us here at Farm Animal Refuge, joining the rescue ranks on March 4, 2017, at only three months old. Grace was born as a dairy cow, but a hernia kept her out of the dairy industry. She was sold to a backyard butcher as a waste product. Luckily, she found her way to us. When she arrived, Grace was very sick. In addition to the hernia, she was underweight with bones showing at only 106 lbs when she should have been twice that, and she was fighting pneumonia.

Our crew had to keep Grace’s stomach wrapped to encourage the hernia to fall back into her abdomen. She enjoyed lots of alfalfa and boundless love to help her with her recovery. Maybe the most supportive force in her complete recovery was her friendship with Firecracker.

Grace now spends her time with her boyfriend India, the black angus steer, and the twins. ( Alfie and Mila). They love to graze in the open field together, play, and never leave each other’s sides- especially when they plot their troublemaking like opening the gate for a stroll to the farm house. India has adored Grace since they first met , and not surprisingly all of our visitors love her too!

Grace is a BIG girl now! She’s expected to be around 2000 lbs. when she is fully grown.