Our Story

Coming Home began as a dream of a few people who wanted to make a difference in the lives of some of the most mistreated and exploited animals on this earth.

Located about twenty miles southeast of the Fingerlakes in New York’s Southern Tier, the sanctuary’s partially wooded tranquil 50-acre farm is an ideal setting for our rescued animals, while providing refuge for the abundant native wildlife.

Our first location in Harford, NY, was home to our first three rescues, Wally, Max, and Mavis. Wally was a very young calf who was being used in a research project at a nearby university. He was near death when we adopted him and expected to live only a few weeks. Wally had other plans and slowly recovered under the nurturing care of Rich (cofounder) and his wife, Mareike.

A few months later, cofounder, Laura, was contacted about a tiny young bull calf born at a veterinary university dairy operation who was slated for another similarly horrific research project. Without hesitation, Laura scooped up the five-day-old calf and drove with “Max” through several states to live with his soon-to-be best friend, Wally. Our two boys became fast friends and were inseparable until Wally’s death ten years later. Max is the handsome Jersey boy with the magnificent horns featured on our Home page snuggling with Hazel.

During those early years (2001-2003), Laura, Rich and Mareike worked on a game plan to launch the sanctuary and brainstormed about fundraising and logistics. Rich got busy building a beautiful rotating pasture fencing system for the boys on the sanctuary’s original property, and a couple of years later we welcomed Mavis, a newborn pigmy goat found wandering the streets of Brooklyn one bitter winter night. She never let us forget she was raised by cows. : )

By 2005, we realized that the layout of the property limited our ability to expand easily, so went in search of a new piece of property and found our current place, about a half an hour south of Harford. The property is very secluded and surrounded by several acres of wooded areas, a large pond filled with fish and turtles, and timothy hay fields that we harvest to feed our cows during the winter. Through the years there have been many changes to the original structures, as well as to the property grounds. The sanctuary developed organically according to the needs presented to us each day. When we found a cow who needed sanctuary, we built a barn and fenced in some pasture. When we found our first chicken, we revamped the old horse barn into a proper chicken home, and so on. And every time I say, “ok that’s the last project for the year,” life has a way of dropping a new one right into our laps.

In addition to all the regular daily cleaning, there is always a fence to be repaired, a latch to install, or an animal who needs medical attention. We have learned to be flexible and adapt to the needs of the day, while working in concert with nature’s seasons. We have been all-volunteer since day one and have always felt it was better to care for fewer animals extremely well, rather than overextend ourselves with more than we can handle. The sanctuary is a very special place for both humans and animals and we hope to continue for as long as we can physically do so. We appreciate all of our wonderful friends who support our work here and make it possible to pamper our rescues and welcome new animals as we are able. All of you are truly our heroes who are making it possible for our rescued farm animals to live the sweetest, most peaceful lives possible. We couldn’t do this without you, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts!