Rescued Animals
Here are just a few of our past fosters and rescued animals, all happy and safe now in their forever homes!
Bella was our first rescue and inspired the beginning of Genevieve’s Gentle Hearts Rescue. Bella was the runt of the litter whose mom died, the hog farmer gave her a second chance and a 4H family and friend of ours fostered her. Despite being given a second chance, Bella was still headed to slaughter to be sold for cheap meat. Upon learning of her fate, we asked if they would be interested in giving her to us so that we could find her a forever home, they were thrilled that she didn’t have to be killed! Bella was was still a small runt who caught pneumonia and took some time to recover, luckily she found her forever home at Loving Farm Sanctuary, a wonderful sanctuary in Paso Robles.
Bella
We rescued Mocha along with a baby goat called Waffles while bearing witness at a livestock auction. They were only hours old, victims of the dairy industry: torn from their mothers and left to the elements without getting their important first milk. Both of them had already contracted Cryptosporidium, a deadly disease common in industrial farms and auctions. Mocha survived after a month of constant monitoring and medicine. We unfortunately lost Waffles despite doing everything we could. Mocha made friends with a little goat named Blue and eventually got adopted out with him thanks to the wonderful people at Goatlandia Animal Sanctuary! Mocha now lives at a private home with his buddy, safe from harm.
Mocha
Madeline was born with a cleft palate and set to be euthanized by a local dairy farmer. I reached out to the farmer who agreed to surrender her to us and giving her a chance to live. Madeline was only hours old but spunky and full of energy when she came to us, ready to take on life’s challenges. We dove in head first to give Madeline a chance, we searched everywhere but no information on her condition could be found. Everyone who had a cleft palate goat had either euthanized them or they had passed away quickly. Finally our local vet offered to try a series of surgeries, it was risky but Madeline was fragile and we were unsure of how much time we had. Madeline made it through the first surgery, back to her normal self within hours. We went through with a second surgery which helped further fix her palate, and Madeline is now living happily at Rancho Compassion with her best friend Leroy!
Madeline
Ginger and Mary Ann were surrendered to us by a dairy farm because they could no longer be bred for dairy or sold for meat. Mary Ann was a few months old but had stunted growth due to contracting polio at four weeks and subsequently being rejected by her mom. Due to her past ailments, she did not qualify to be a dairy goat and was too small to be sold for good meat. She was going to be sent to auction but when the farmer agreed to surrender Ginger, she let Mary Ann go with her as they had a strong bond. Ginger was only two years old but had contracted mastitis that had been left untreated leading to other infections and ailments, when we picked her up she was severely malnourished and riddled with lice and disease. Fortunately, after months of treatment Ginger is a nearly normal, healthy goat and Mary Ann has even grown a little! They are both happy and safe in their beautiful home at Charlie’s Acres and have made quite a few friends!
Ginger & Mary Ann
Lucy and Ethel were dumped at an outdoor mall pond by irresponsible people. Domestic ducks like Lucy and Ethel are often illegally disposed of in this way by irresponsible pet owners who have no regard for animal welfare. Because they are not wild ducks, they began to get sick and were interfering with the natural environment of the wild ducks who lived at the pond. A kind and responsible employee of the mall called us after a group of high school students dumped soap in the pond as a “prank” causing many of the wild ducklings to die and Lucy and Ethel to become even more ill. It took a lot of time to get Lucy and Ethel into their carriers, as they were quite traumatized by their experiences with humans, but eventually we were able to load them into the rescue van and get them to the vet. They were adopted by Bleating Hearts Sanctuary where they have healed both emotionally and physically and enjoy playing in their private pond with their other duck friends, free from harm.
Lucy & Ethel
Eloise was born at a dairy farm with a severe cleft palate. The farmer called us knowing that we specialize in the care of cleft palate goats. She made the perfect companion for Sherman who was also being fostered by us at the time. Eloise had two surgeries to correct her cleft palate and while she still has a slight cleft palate, her quality of life and ability to eat was vastly improved by the surgeries. Eloise and Sherman were adopted by Goatlandia where they received lots of love and care, but saddle Sherman passed away in 2021. Eloise was heartbroken by the loss of her friend but was able to make new friends with a goat named Rumi who was there while her family got their new barn built. Seeing how much the two goats loved each other, Rumi’s family decided to adopt Eloise and she now lives with them and gets tons of love every day! Eloise is a big fan of hugs and snuggles which she gets in abundance!
Eloise
Ollie was born with severe facial deformities to a small hobby farm goat breeder. The breeder, feeling unprepared and not knowing what to do, posted him to a goat health group seeking advice. The majority of Facebook users in the group recommended “culling” (killing) him as a “mercy” because they were sure he could not live a good life or be of any commercial use to the breeder. Luckily there were individuals in the comments suggesting rescue and Genevieve’s Gentle Hearts Rescue was able to connect with the breeder and arrange for Ollie to go to a sanctuary. A group of volunteers and activists joined together to transport Ollie from Wisconsin to Kentucky, and Genevieve’s Gentle Hearts Rescue paid for him to be seen by the vets at U Wisconsin who found no underlying issues with him other than one blind eye and cosmetic deformities. Ollie made it to his home at Tribe Animal Sanctuary where he now lives a happy life full of love!
Ollie
In September of 2020 we were contacted by a woman in LA who was forced to move her 52 goats and alpaca and had three days to get them or they would be taken to auction and likely sold for cheap meat or bred to death. we didn’t know if we would be able to save any given the distance from us and the time period. But we put up posts and contacted almost all of the rescue people we knew. The woman found a home for 6 of the goats but that left 46 + the alpaca. We were able to find 6 incredible foster homes that were able to take the remaining 46 goats and alpaca. This entire rescue was made possible with the help of Farm Animal Refuge who transported the goats to their respective foster homes over the course of 24 hours, and foster homes Flat Broke Farm, All Things Hooved Rescue, and Stone Station Sanctuary. All of the goats and the alpaca were adopted into wonderful homes where they are well loved and cared for!
46 Goats & 1 Alpaca
Cuddles was found by an animal control officer as a day-old turkey chick. She was brought to Contra Costa County Animal Shelter who called us knowing that Cuddles needed an experienced rescue home. We raised Cuddles for about two months until she was old enough to travel to her forever home in Washington State. She now lives at a private sanctuary with other turkeys and gets lots of love every day!
Cuddles
We were contacted about Matilda when she was only 5 days old and in desperate need of medical care. Matilda was rescued from a Walmart parking lot after an employee rescued her from a customer who was desperate to get rid of her. The employee had rescue friends who were able to connect her with us and we were able to pick up Miss Matilda and take her to UC Davis. At the vet they found that she had severe joint ill and had not been properly fed by her past home. The vets were unsure if Matilda would recover from her severe infection but we wanted to give her a chance and went ahead with a vigorous few rounds of antibiotics. Amazingly, Matilda recovered and was cared for and raised by our amazing friends who run The Stolen Lives Project. Matilda is extremely intelligent and friendly and was recently adopted into an amazing forever home.
Matilda
Olivia was found on the highway by highway patrol after jumping off a truck on the way to slaughter. She was about 5 months old at the time which likely means she was on the way to slaughter as most pigs are slaughtered at 6 months. She was at our local shelter but the farm did not even notice she was gone. The shelter asked if we could foster her because she was close to her euthanasia date, and we couldn’t let her die after escaping death once. She is an incredibly intelligent and friendly pig, she loves belly rubs and playing fetch. She is extremely playful and energetic and hates car rides, making it clear that her escape was no accident. She has ear notches and a docked tail meaning she was from a factory farm. Olivia lived with us for about a month before being adopted by Herd and Flock Sanctuary where she enjoys a life full of belly rubs and love with her three best friends: Luther, Diego, and Tom.
Olivia
- Finnegan was rescued by us in 2018 after he was found on a craigslist post that was selling him for cheap meat due to his missing leg and difficulty keeping up with his other four legged friends. His leg had been amputated as a result of an accident that happened when he was a baby. We reached out to the poster who was happy to hear that he would be able to go to a sanctuary home and surrendered him to us. Finnegan now lives at Goatlandia Sanctuary where a variety of prosthetics have been tried, but we eventually learned that Finn was happiest without any mobility aids. Finn is an incredibly friendly and resilient goat who is first in line for pets and attention!
Finnegan
Mabel was surrendered to us after the neighbor of a meat farm heard her crying just hours after birth. Mable had been born with a cleft lip and was rejected by her mom. The farmer did not want to bottle feed her which left poor Mabel hungry and screaming for the first hours of her life. Luckily, the neighbor was able to save her and two awesome volunteers were able to transport her to us. Mabel was generally healthy other than her cosmetic difference of a cleft lip. Jellybean soon joined her in our foster care after he was born with a club back leg at a small hobby breeder who knew he would need extra care and decided to surrender him to us. The two became close friends and were also fostered at Only Sunshine Sanctuary once they outgrew our house. They were adopted by a loving forever home where they get all of the love and attention that they (especially Mabel) demand! Jellybean gets around fine so far on three legs though we are monitoring to see if he will need a prosthetic. Mabel has continued to be a cuddle bug and gives the best hugs!
Mabel & Jellybean
Franklin and Martin were born at a meat farm where they were rejected by their moms and considered “bummer lambs”. An amazing sanctuary was able to negotiate the release of the farm’s “bummer lambs” for that lambing season, but needed the help of many rescues as so many were being born. We offered to foster two lambs, who were transported from Oregon to California by an amazing volunteer. We brought them straight to UC Davis where we found that Franklin had mild Pneumonia and Martin had a very severe case of pneumonia. Franklin was able to come home with us but Martin had to stay at UC Davis for nearly two weeks in intensive care which amounted to nearly $2,000 in vet bills. Once he was able to come home, he still required two antibiotic shots and one penicillin injection a day as the vets feared he may have permanent damage to his lungs. We continued to give him lots of TLC at home, which paid off as he eventually was cleared medically and had no permanent damage! He became a strong healthy sheep and both boys were adopted by Sweet Farm Sanctuary!
Martin & Franklin
Lily was rescued in 2019 after we were called by a wonderful family who saved her from a breeder who was going to let her die because he couldn’t sell her due to her lip defect. Lily has “wry face” or a severe cleft lip, but luckily does not have a cleft palate and did not need corrective surgery. As a baby, she drank from a special bottle and loved to be a spoiled house goat, jumping on the lap of anyone who sat on the couch. Lily was able to learn to eat solid food with time and eventually was adopted by an amazing private sanctuary where she still comes into the house occasionally and still loves sitting in the laps of those who allow her to do so!
Lily
Sherman was born premature with an iodine deficiency to a family who had a small herd of goats. He was rejected by his mom and had a large goiter and very little hair or body fat, making him look not very much like a goat. The family brought him inside fearing he may pass away but little Shermie fought and ate the bottles of milk they gave him. Knowing he likely had a medical issue that a rescue was most experienced to address, they reached out to us and we were happy to take him in. Our vet determined that Sherman had hyperthyroidism and a heart murmur and told us she was unsure how long he would live because this condition is not well researched in goats. For the first two weeks of his life, he mostly slept and ate, until he was strong enough to attempt to walk. He needed assistance from leg braces to walk until his muscles became strong enough to hold him up. Sherman was determined to walk and eventually was able to play like any other goat. He was best friends with Eloise and both were adopted by Goatlandia Sanctuary. Unfortunately, at just over a year old, Sherman passed away from a bladder complication. While he lived a short life it was one full of love and joy. Sherman overcame many obstacles to live an extraordinary life that touched the hearts of the many people who met him. We miss you Shermie!
Sherman
Peter was surrendered to a high kill shelter at around 2 or 3 months old because he was born blind and with dwarfism meaning he could not be sold by the breeder. After only a week, he was set to be euthanized. Luckily, an amazing volunteer who runs a dog and cat rescue learned of him and knew he needed a proper piggy home that could care for his special needs. She picked him up for us and we met in a Walmart parking lot to receive our new foster. We quickly fell in love with Peter, he was so sweet and loved being held which is an extremely unusual trait in pigs. We nearly adopted Peter but we found the perfect home for him right in our home town with Maddie and her pig Pickles from @livingwithpickles who have an instagram that is quite popular! Peter has been a friend to the countless fosters that Maddie herself rescues and continues to charm everyone who meets him with his incredibly kind and sweet demeanor!
Peter
Leroy was born in a field to a “weed abatement” company. His mother had rejected him and he was found being bullied by large goats, crying, hungry, and scared, by a wonderful woman who lived nearby the property being cleared. She asked the person watching the goats if she could take the small baby goat that was on death's door and the shepherd said she could have him. Not having any goat experience, his rescuer learned how to care for him from online resources and was able to save his life and nurse him back to health. After a week, she called us knowing that he needed an experienced rescue with other goats to help him thrive. He became best friends with his foster sister Madeline and they got into plenty of trouble as baby goats do! Leroy and Madeline were eventually adopted by Rancho Compasión where they are the first to greet visitors and volunteers with enthusiasm and love!