'Make sure that you can do the work': NJ animal sanctuary owners caution newcomers
Animal sanctuary owners often operate on the assumption they all share a mission in keeping animals safe. So the call Jamie Baldanza received on a summer Sunday rattled her.
Baldanza, who owns the Upper Freehold sanctuary called Wild Lands Wild Horses, was asked by Caitlin Cimini, owner of sanctuary Rancho Relaxo in Pilesgrove Township in Salem County, to come down to Mannington Township in Salem County. She wanted her to see the nonprofit sanctuary Twist of Fate, owned by Ashley DiFelice.
When Baldanza arrived at the property, she said she saw bones of animals within the same enclosures as live ones. Many of the live animals were malnourished and lacked access to drinkable water. Photos from sources showed bones of dead animals and animals that were emaciated.
Kate Allonardo with Triple 7 Rescue and Rehabilitation in Elmer Borough in Salem County also was called to the sanctuary. On the first day, she said she tripped over a ram's skull and recognized its distinct horns from Twist of Fate's Instagram.
Baldanza, among with a handful of other sanctuary owners, confronted DiFelice, who relinquished over a hundred still-living animals to be placed in other sanctuaries. DiFelice has since been charged with cruelty to animals related to alleged failure to provide care in connection with the July 24 discovery and has pleaded not guilty to the disorderly persons offense. Her case will be heard in Mid-Salem County Municipal Court in November.
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Animal rescues are rarely one-person operations. Instead, a network of nonprofits work in conjunction to place animals in sanctuaries across the nation. The owners of these nonprofits rely on trust.
But police interventions at a number of animal sanctuaries have shattered that trust.
“The rescue community is a very small community,” Baldanza said. “A lot of us work together, and we’re all friends and colleagues.”
Baldanza said she had joined forces with DiFelice at Twist of Fate on previous neglect cases and “had no reasons to suspect otherwise. I trusted her.”
The now-defunct sanctuary’s Patreon page has since been taken over by Cimini of Rancho Relaxo.
“Gone are the days of trusting each other and taking each other’s word for it,” said Leanne Lauricella, the owner of the farm sanctuary Goats of Anarchy in Hampton Borough in Hunterdon County.
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Lauricella, who specializes in caring for animals with disabilities, said she took in three animals from Twist of Fate, including a sheep named Linus, which she had placed at the now defunct sanctuary a few years ago.
Sanctuary owners have often been animal rights advocates who have called for stricter laws protecting the welfare of farm animals or animals thought of as commodities, who have less legal protection.
But Lauricella didn't think she would have to turn that focus back onto the sanctuary community.
She said she plans on working out accountability measures with other sanctuaries she routinely works with, the first step being visiting other people's farms. She admitted that despite working with Baldanza this summer, she had never visited her Upper Freehold sanctuary.
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Lauricella said she doesn't see Twist of Fate as an isolated incident. Earlier this year, her nonprofit worked to rescue animals from another nonprofit, Rooster’s Rescue Foundation in Raritan Township in Hunterdon County. The owner, Michael B. Featherston, was charged in May with cruelty to animals due to failure to provide care.
“Unfortunately, it’s going to happen more often because in the last few years we’ve seen a huge influx of new sanctuaries starting,” Lauricella said. “People don’t realize how hard it is and then times got hard with the last couple of years during the pandemic. And raising money is hard and now I feel like every month I’m hearing of another one closing.”
'Animals are 24/7'
It has been eight years since Lauricella left her six-figure job to start the nonprofit Goats of Anarchy. Her salary reverted to what it had been 20 years ago, and she gave up any possibility of taking a vacation.
“I don’t leave (the sanctuary), and honestly it cost me a husband who left four years ago,” she said. “(He) said, ‘This life isn’t for me.’”
She said taking care of the 250 animals on her sanctuary with her staff and volunteers is all-consuming. “Animals are 24/7.”
On Instagram and other social media platforms, the hardships of running an animal sanctuary are not documented. Nonprofits are often reliant on small-dollar donations and use social media as a marketing tool to attract sponsors.
People who stumble on Goats of Anarchy's social media page can donate directly through Instagram posts or pay a reoccurring donation through Patreon. Sponsors through Patreon can receive letters about the animals, which Lauricella said keeps her organization accountable.
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Lauricella said her nonprofit also runs on a large base of volunteers.
Lesley Luckhardt with Bluemont Sanctuary in Colts Neck, which took in a mini horse named Midge from Twist of Fate, said her organization also runs on sponsorship and allows potential sponsors to visit her sanctuary.
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“It’s a business at the end of the day,” said Chelsea Halat, a friend of Baldanza who boards horses at her sanctuary. While the Instagram accounts are filled with adorable animals and aspirational moments, these pages are meant to fundraise to keep these sanctuaries in operation.
'Make sure you can do the work'
In addition to the heart-tugging images on social media, there are stalls to clean and bills to pay, said Destiny Dale, who along with Allonardo started Triple 7 Rescue and Rehabilitation this summer after taking in a mini-mule named Queso and a pig named George from Twist of Fate. They said they are waiting on getting nonprofit status.
“Everyone wants to save a horse, but they don’t actually know what goes into saving a horse,” said Dale, who trains horses with Destiny Dale Equestrian, where she had rescued animals on the side here and there before officially entering the sanctuary business.
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Dale said there are multiple places and ways to learn about taking care of animals and starting a sanctuary, but that interested people need to spend a lot of time volunteering before starting their own operations.
Lauricella’s advice is to volunteer long hours in the cold of February and the heat of August to “make sure that you can do the work, that you like it.”
She then suggests figuring out which animals they are drawn to and then getting only two animals for the first year.
“Because if you decide, ‘I can’t do this seven days a week. I want to go on vacation,’ that stuff is over. At least it’s a handful of animals that you need to find placement for rather than 100,” Lauricella said.
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Autumn Fiordland, barn manager at Wild Lands Wild Horses, emphasized the need to reach out.
“I think a lot of the time people who are in the sanctuary business or who are in the training business, they almost have this pride about them where they feel embarrassed to ask for help. … To be able to ask people for help and consult people and admit that what you are doing might need some adjustment, then that makes a better difference for the animals.”
Allonardo said animal rescue and care facilities are not single-person operations. She said this is useful when certain animals are not responding well to certain people and may need to be rehomed.
“It’s got to be this collaboration of 'I’m in over my head' or 'I’m not getting along with this horse,'” Allonardo said.
“It is hard to turn down animals, but you have to be realistic. You’re not going to be able to provide the care, you’re not going to have the space, you’re not going to have the sanity,” Dale said.
One of horses rescued from Twist of Fate, now residing at Baldanza’s sanctuary, is Yuma. When Allonardo and Dale first approached the mustang, he didn’t look too bad and allowed them to pet him. But having worked with horses for years and after a back-and-forth conversation, they found him to be too friendly and deduced that something was off.
After an exam, they found out that he needed colic surgery, which would cost Wild Lands Wild Horses $12,000.
“Every single home is facing the financial repercussions,” Allonardo said about the expenses associated with taking in a new animal and paying for medical care.
Halat said Wild Lands Wild Horses is set up so the animals can continue to be cared for even if the owner dies.
With Goats of Anarchy, Lauricella said, “If I get sick or die or quit, then this organization can still keep going with (the organization’s board of directors) that can take over for me. … Eventually that’s going to happen.”
Luckhardt with Bluemont Sanctuary said her family has a living will that provides each animal with money and allows the sanctuary to operate for two or three years in the event of a death.
In photos, Luckhardt showed overgrown hoofs on the mini-horse Midge’s foot that, even after a trim, causes him to limp.
Luckhardt said her nonprofit was maxed on with space.
“If another neglect case comes my way, I’m sure I’ll help, but I’ve had to say, 'I can’t take on another one this year, because I’m too sad,'” Luckhardt said.
Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ animal sanctuaries: Don't start one unless you're totally committed
