Starting your own microsanctuary
Your dream of creating a haven for animals is within reach. Here’s how to to start one using your own resources and space, and how to run it so it’s a positive experience for you, your family, and the animals in your care.
Step 1: Ask yourself why
Before any big decision, especially one that involves taking responsibility for another’s wellbeing, it’s always a good idea to evaluate your reasons. Running a microsanctuary is no small feat and should only be pursued following careful consideration. As your personal income will likely be the only source of funding, money that could be otherwise allocated for vacations or exciting purchases often end up being used for vet bills and daily care expenses. If you have a companion animal microsanctuary rather than a farm sanctuary, your home will be your animals’ primary residence — which likely means doing the animal version of childproofing your home. Without staff and volunteers, the full weight of caring for each animal — medication and feeding schedules, grooming, enrichment, vet appointments — fall squarely on the shoulders of you and your family. It will be a never-ending physical, emotional, and financial load. But for those who feel called to care for animals in this way, these things don’t feel like a sacrifice. The real sacrifice would be a life without the organized chaos of animals in need filling their home.
Step 2: Do your due diligence
Nothing would be more heartbreaking than welcoming an animal into your home only to find out you’re in violation of a local ordinance. Check your state, county, city, and HOA regulations to make sure you can accept the number and types of animals you wish to rescue. If statutes preclude you from caring for the number or type of animal you feel really passionate about, don’t give up! Start small or a little differently than anticipated and advocate for change. A previously-maltreated fish will be just as lucky to spend their life in your care as a dog or chicken, and you’ll have more time to make arrangements for the microsanctuary of your dreams.
Step 3: Build a support network
Though one of the perks of a microsanctuary is that you don’t need a large staff to run it, no one can do this entirely alone. There will be times that health issues, family responsibilities, work commitments, or myriad other things come up and you need some help. It’s important to have people in your life on whom you can rely.
Having worked at our local shelter, I’m very blessed to have close ties to the local animal rescue community. Not only do I have family in town who can come help anytime, I have friends who are experts in the field and would be able to easily care for the animals if the need arose. I’m also very grateful to have a good relationship with my veterinary clinic. The veterinarians, techs, and receptionists have always been very good to us and I know I can get in touch with them if I have any concerns.
If you live in an area where you don’t have family or friends nearby who would be able to help, consider volunteering at your local shelter, sanctuary, or wildlife refuge and get to know your local animal advocates. Find a petsitter or two with a background in the types of animals in your care. When all else fails, keep a detailed care sheet somewhere accessible (on your fridge or a bulletin board in your kitchen are good options!) for a friend or neighbor in the event of an emergency. In a time of crisis, animals just need to be fed, watered, and medicated — the rest can be caught up on once you’re back with them or can make other arrangements.
Step 4: Plan for potential challenges
“Hope for the best but plan for the worst” is a good motto as you start your microsanctuary. If you can do a little bit of planning upfront, you can prevent or minimize the impact of otherwise devastating challenges. Some things to consider:
Plan for the natural disasters in your region. The Red Cross guide to pet disaster preparedness is a great place to start, with the understanding that you may need to personalize their suggestions for species type and medical needs.
A house fire has the potential to be the most catastrophic event due to the speed with which you would need to evacuate a relatively large number of animals, many of whom would hide as soon as they hear sirens and commotion. The Red Cross also has a good fire safety guide to review.
A microsanctuary’s funding comes solely or primarily from the caregiver’s income. Consider working with a financial planner or do some research on your own to improve and protect your financial health. The fact is, none of us got into animal rescue to be rich, and the cost of caring for animals — especially those with special needs — can rack up quickly. That said, the beauty of a microsanctuary is that it’s only as big as your resources allow. The same strategies you employ for your own personal budgeting can be applied to your microsanctuary.
Think about how you would like to handle caring for your animals in the event of a health crisis. For example. I have a recurrent disc herniation, and I have to work very hard to keep it from flaring up and putting me out of commission for weeks at a time. In the first day or two of a flare-up, I need someone else to do 95-100% of the animal care. Then I have to be careful as I get back into the routine and leave some things for others to do so I don’t injure myself further. It takes about two weeks for me to be at full mobility, during which a lot of things would fall through the cracks if I didn’t have help. This is where having a support network is vital. If you have a disability, chronic illness, or mental health concern, do some planning that’s specific to your needs. Even if you don’t have anything currently, it’s always good to have a plan in place in the event of illness or injury.
Include your animals in your will and lay out a plan for their care in the event of your death. Working in an animal shelter means I’ve seen too many dearly-loved animals end up homeless after their owners passed. The nature of an animal sanctuary is that the majority of your animals are going to be difficult to adopt out. I have prepared a will and insurance policy that will enable all my animals to be cared for by trusted individuals for as long as they live.
Step 5: Prepare your environment
Depending on the types of animals in your care, the extent of your preparations will vary. If you have farm animals, you may not have to do too much in your home, but you will need to set up a barn, coop, pasture, or other enclosures. Companion animals in their own enclosures, such as reptiles and small mammals, will also have a smaller footprint in your home. But if your microsanctuary will have animals that will live throughout your home, such as dogs, cats, and rabbits, you need to consider how to share your living space with them. If that’s the case, here are a few suggestions:
Minimize clutter. This is both for the safety of the animals and for your own mental health. Animals are messy, and you’ll find yourself cleaning up after them on a pretty constant basis. Decreasing the visual clutter in your space can keep your home from feeling overwhelming.
Ensure all medications are inaccessible to your animals. Like kids, animals can be too curious for their own good and can get themselves in trouble!
Check the toxic plant list and make sure all plants in your home and yard are safe for pets.
Walk around your space and block off any difficult-to-access hiding spots that a new animal could hide in without your knowledge (always provide hiding spots for new residents so they can adjust to the new space, but make sure they’re ones you can access in an emergency). Fix or block holes in walls, window screens, and fences.
Cover furniture or choose options for chairs and rugs that are machine-washable and easy to clean. Prepare for the probability that parasites and infectious diseases will enter your space so you need to be able to sanitize the space quickly and easily.
Step 6: Make your home work for you
You’re going to be doing a lot of cleaning. There’s no way around it. Fur, feathers, mud, poop, pee, hairballs, vomit — no matter if your residents are in a backyard coop or on your bed, animals and mess are synonymous. And all this takes place in your home, which already will have “signs of life”: clothes to be folded, dishes to be washed, toilets to be scrubbed, gardens to weed.
For everyone’s physical and psychological wellbeing, keeping your home clean and organized is a must when running a microsanctuary. But it doesn’t have to be difficult or overwhelming. I often ask myself, “Is there an easier way to do this?” and I encourage anyone in the same boat to do the same. Cleaning supplies in every room, a long-handled dustpan and broom, a cordless vacuum, a good-quality washer/dryer — these are all things that make keeping up with the residents actually doable. And nothing is as valuable a well-thought-out routine, as you’ll find in Step 8!
Step 7: Welcome your first resident(s)!
Most likely, you won’t need to look for new residents; they tend to find their way to you! But if you have a specific species or welfare issue you feel drawn to (e.g., senior dogs, dairy industry cows, abandoned/maltreated “starter” small pets like hamsters), keep an eye out on social media and local rescues.
Once they arrive, a few things to consider:
Keep the new resident in a small area at first. Not only will it allow them to adjust to their new environment without becoming overwhelmed, if they’re sick or carrying parasites, it’s much easier to sanitize a smaller area and you don’t have to worry about them transmitting disease to the other residents.
Have them checked by a veterinarian as soon as possible.
Start small. There will always, always be more animals in need. There is absolutely no shame in only having the resources or space for one animal. Keep the old saying in mind: “Saving one animal won’t change the world, but it will change the world for that one animal.” It’s far better to focus on providing the best level of care for a few animals than becoming overwhelmed with too many. Most people who struggle with animal hoarding started by wanting to care for animals in need, but their number quickly exceeded their capacity. My hope in encouraging careful thought and organization is to prevent this unfortunate occurrence by keeping the welfare of the animals already in your care your top priority.
Step 8: Build a routine
As you care for your residents, track what needs to be done, how often, and how long each task takes. Consider using a checklist, spreadsheet, or tracking app to ensure nothing is missed. If you have more than one person in your home, I recommend having the to-do list in a public space like the kitchen so it’s easier to keep track of feedings and medication.
Try to feed every animal their meals directly rather than free-feed. Not only does this allow you to monitor their appetite and food intake, it provides a good chance to lay eyes on each animal and do a quick health check — and make sure they’re there and not stuck in a closet, not that that’s ever happened! For animals like snakes who don’t eat every day, I check on them at least twice a day (I have their hides situated so that I can glance in each one without disturbing them if they’re shedding or digesting).
Step 9: Take care of yourself
Running a microsanctuary isn’t easy. You are one person or family caring for animals with a variety of needs and behaviors. As microsanctuaries exist in your living space, you don’t “go home” at the end of a full day of feeding, medicating, cleaning, and tracking. Like children, they’re always there, and always needing something. While not one of us animal lovers would have it any other way, we are only human. We get tired, we get hangry, we get overstimulated. Check in with yourself if you find that you’re feeling irritable around the animals or sensitive to touch. Take a break and see if there’s an easy solution. Never underestimate the power of a good pair of noise-cancelling earbuds during feeding time or a hot shower with absolutely no animals present in the bathroom!
Step 10: Re-evaluate
After a few weeks or months, sit down and be honest with yourself about how things are going. The animals in your care will change, as will your needs, so don’t be afraid to regularly reflect on how things are going and make adjustments. Here are a few questions that might be helpful to ask — not just once, but on a regular basis:
What’s working well?
What isn’t working?
What’s my biggest stressor? What can I do to address it?
What would make my life easier?
When is each resident happiest? What can I do to make sure I meet those needs?
What does each resident dislike the most? What can I do eliminate or minimize those stressors?