Giving refuge and care to animals, 1 by 1
By Vance McGraw, Manager – Customer Operations, Product Supply Organization
My husband, Brian, and I have always been animal lovers. During the pandemic, we moved out to the country and bought 50 acres of land north of Bentonville, Arkansas. After seeing that many of our elderly neighbors needed help caring for their animals and others had found animals that were in need of a home, he had the idea of starting an animal rescue and sanctuary for domestic animals and small farm animals.
After six months of waiting for the IRS to give us our 501(c)(3) status, we were able to start Rocky Hills Farm. We’ve been busy building fences, sheds and housing for these animals to give them a safe place to enjoy. And we’ve already started our work, rescuing animals ranging from a deaf goat to a puppy that was electrocuted after chewing on an extension cord to an English bulldog that was found starving with his ribs showing. We’ve even taken in three bunnies that were only 8 days old after their mother died during birth. (We bottle-fed them every three hours and became completely attached to them.) All of the animals have been nursed back to health and are doing well.
Today we have over 50 animals living with us on the farm, including goats, dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens and ducks. Our plan is to keep going and take in as many animals as possible to give them the love and safety they need. We’re thankful to be included in Clorox’s GIFT campaign as one of the nonprofits that can benefit from employee donations and dollar-for-dollar matches from the company.
As Brian likes to say, “Rescuing one animal will not change the world, but surely for that one animal the world will change forever.”
Our plan is to … take in as many animals as possible to give them the love and safety they need.