Our Team

Meet the humans who run Genevieve’s Gentle Heats Rescue! We are a family run organization that relies on the hard work of volunteers.

President and Founder

Kira Kiesler is the founder and president of Genevieve’s Gentle Hearts Rescue. Kira has always loved animals, and her favorite childhood book was Charlotte’s Web. After joining her sister in 4H, she decided she could not sell her beloved goats in order to continue breeding and instead became vegan, keeping her three goats Dulce, George, and Genevieve. Around the ages of 13 and 14, Kira was suffering from severe OCD and mental health issues. As a coping mechanism and motivation to work hard in therapy and recover, Kira began rescuing farmed animals. Her first official rescue was when she was 14 in 2016 and rescued Bella the pig. Since then she has continued to expand her knowledge on animal care and rescued over 250+ animals, pulling her entire family into the rescue business!

Vice President

Zahra Kiesler is the vice president of Genevieve’s Gentle Hearts Rescue and has always been an avid animal lover! Her experience with Farm animals started when she started caring for goats under her local 4H chapter in junior high. Her passion for her goats inspired her to pursue a degree in Animal Science so that she could gain essential knowledge regarding reproduction, nutrition and physiological care. Her experience in reproduction gives her an advantage when it comes to caring for pregnant fosters, young babies who need extra care. Her focus is now on human reproduction and she is pursuing a Masters in Reproductive biology. In her free time Zahra enjoys hanging out with cows, goats sheep and her two kittens Linguini and Remy

Chairperson

Tom Kiesler is the Chairman of the Board of Directors here at Genevieve's Gentle Hearts Rescue. He is currently incapable of being a daily care giver to the animals, but is an attorney and surety consultant by trade, and lends his paper pushing skills to GGHR by putting together their required legal documents, filings, and board meeting packets. He is still in training to be a reliable foster parent to our rescues at some point. Hope springs eternal!

Treasurer

Valerie Silva is the treasurer of Genevieve’s Gentle Hearts Rescue and one of the two main foster mamas to orphaned animals along with Kira here at GGHR. Valerie has always been an animal lover and, as a child, memorized countless dog breeds and their associated traits. She works for Horizon Therapeutics outside of the rescue and has an expansive knowledge about rare diseases and genetic disorders in humans, which is helpful in caring for animals with similar conditions. She is the champion of 4 am feedings and makes each animal that comes into the rescue know they are loved and safe.

Board Members

Maddie Johnson is one of our amazing board members and trusted fosters. Maddie rescued her first pig, Pickles, along with a large farm pig, Tickles, after Pickles needed an emergency blood transfusion. Tickles, who was originally set for slaughter, saved his life. Pickles’ story drew many followers to her instagram account @livingwithpickles where Maddie shares her ‘FARMily’, showing the journies of the many foster animals that come under her care. Our partnership with Maddie started in 2020 when she adopted Peter the pig from us, and we have continued to collaborate on many rescues with her.