Urgent Support Needed for Animal Sanctuary

I have never dreaded writing a post as much as this one. I keep telling you all i will update you on what is happening with my rescue. I was hoping it would continue and just transition to something temporary but every day that goes by is getting harder financially, and iv come to the realization that in order to survive, I may have to let go.

Almost 4 years ago when I moved to my property I had huge dreams and high hopes. I sacrificed everything I had to make my dreams come true and to build a safe haven for the innocent. Every year i purchased another parcel until i recently had the entire road as my sanctuary. I financed these properties through the owners and would have finished paying everything off in 2025. This property was supposed to be the end of so many years trying to find my own safe place to call home. I spent nights in my car and days on the road working to make this happen. I went 3 years without electricity or a proper home to make sure i reached my goal. I spent winters with no heat and summers with no AC. Sometimes i wasnt sure Id make it through but i knew for my animals, I HAD to. I really didn’t care what it took.

When I first moved up with my animals and a neighbor (2 miles away) saw me driving by his house, he immediately started harassing, threatening and playing mind games with me to make me think I wasn’t aloud to access my own property because I drive past his house. I tried to talk to him but learned that he just wasn’t a stable person and it was best to keep my head down and continue driving. He realized that I wasn’t going to just do what he said and leave my own property so he started filing reports to code enforcement. Every few months they would come up and see everything i was doing, and talk to me for a bit, meet my animals and close the case. When I asked what permitting I would need for the animal enclosures they would always tell me to save my money for permitting for a house because it would save me time and money vs getting a conditional use permit. Sometimes they would have me move my RV 150 feet to prove it was movable and always closed the case. This made my neighbor livid to the point where he would throw things at my truck and start screaming like a child every time i would come home. He finally found a code enforcement officer to come to my property and make his own report. This person included violations that didnt even exist like excavating and altering the land, or that I had junk on my property which simply wasn’t true. It is completely illegal to make that amount of complaints to authority figures. The term is called strong arming and its a felony. The officer told me to get off my own property and to take my animals to a shelter. He said he will keep the case open in order to stop me from getting permits until i have everything off my property. On the documents the literal solution it tells you to apply for permits. (i have paid 10k to start the process, and owe over another 10k) It is very clear my neighbor has a relationship with him, and there is no way around it. I know some will tell me to file a restraining order or hire a pro bono lawyer. There is NOTHING i haven’t done and I promise you that. There is a strong “good ole boy code” in this area and once they have their sights on hurting you, all that matters is the connections they have. Integrity simply doesn’t exist.

Now the tough part.. it has cost me every penny in my bank account to appease this officer. Iv sold almost every belonging I have and am selling my RV just to survive. All of the enclosures i purchased and horse supplies i worked so hard to get I have to sell. I had to move myself into an apartment and my animals have to be moved to a separate property. I simply can’t afford to pay rent on two properties, make my land payments, and feed or vet all of my animals. Last week I put myself into the hospital and I have been in a lot of pain, but still haven’t stopped trying to make ends meet. I can’t keep working right now and I have to take a break. I need to rehome the animals that are adoptable for now, and the ones that can’t be rehomed, i simply don’t know at this moment. Im more scared than I ever have been in my life, but im still trying to pray for a miracle and not let fear consume me. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my animals, NOTHING. But if I keep working myself to death, they won’t have anyone. I don’t want to lose my property and I don’t want to lose my animals. Im scared to live the rest of my life with the guilt that I have failed them. They love me just as much as I love them and they have given me more than I could ever offer them. If I can’t get through these next few months, my rescue won’t exist. I can’t imagine what my life would look like without this.

I hope that you all will give me some grace as I navigate how to get through this. If you can donate to help me get through these next few months I appreciate you, and I am sorry. This has been such a lesson on never taking a second of your life for granted because everything can change in an instant, and there is always more to lose. Thank you to everyone who’s made my life easier and the animals lives better. Im hoping by telling you all the truth about what has been happening, maybe just MAYBE there will be enough people of the community to make enough of a difference that i can get by by the skin of my teeth and I won’t lose everything I have built for these animals. If you can’t help please pray because we need it.