From the Heart Animal Sanctuary located in Paso Robles is celebrating its one-year anniversary as a certified non-profit organization with a BBQ fundraiser on October 15.
Founder Leslie Thomas and co-founder Joe Thomas created the animal sanctuary out of their love for rescuing and caring for animals. They started out using their own money to help care for the animals they were given but as they kept receiving more animals, they realized they had to do something about it.
"The need is much greater than we thought," Joe said.
The couple works with Animal Services to receive animals that need proper care as well as to save animals from being put down. Leslie raises money for the animals through social media and fundraising events but says it barely covers the animals they have.
"We have vet bills... we have feed bills and inflation has really cut into caring for all of the animals," Leslie said, adding that they are currently not accepting any hoofed animals. "Hay has almost doubled."
The pet sanctuary houses a variety of different animals that range from Siberian huskies and goats to horses and show ponies. To help donate money for these animals, information can be found on their website.
More information regarding buying tickets for their upcoming BBQ fundraiser can be found on their Facebook page.
