Keeper's Haven Animal Sanctuary

Goal: $4,800.00

Specific Need

Keeper’s Haven Animal Sanctuary is on a mission to show that every animal is a keeper! We are looking for funding to further our 2025 programs to include: expanding our rehabilitation programs and therapies, raising funds to cover our hay cost for this year, & fund our annual equine dentals and spring vaccinations. We have high care standards for our sanctuary animal residents and every donation helps make this possible.

Mission

Keeper’s Haven Animal Sanctuary, aregistered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, that was founded in 2022 and serves the Northern Virginia area. Our overall mission is to provide care, compassion, and safe shelter for abused, abandoned, and neglected companion animals of all ages; with the goal that helping one animal heal gathers us into community to help us all. KHAS is the forever home to 6 horses (including 2 young orphan mustangs that were saved from a kill auction), 2 cows (one with a permanent ankle deformity), a potbellied pig, a senior special needs bulldog, a sheep that was attacked by 2 animals where he lost an ear on top of sustaining numerous injuries, and a young lamb that was born with a birth defect limiting his mobility and balance.

Profile

          Sarah Graham founded Keeper’s Haven Animal Sanctuary with not only the dream of providing a safe haven to animals in need, but with the goal of providing the best care possible for these animals. The inspiration behind KHAS was Sarah’s first horse, Keeper, an off-the-track thoroughbred race horse that was underweight and in need of a tender hand and a guiding light. As her first rescue project in her teens, Keeper taught Sarah the importance of lending a listening ear to best understand his needs to heal. Over the years, they formed an unbreakable bond, but not without hard work and dedication. As time rolled on, Keeper started slowing down and was ready for retirement. At this point, some horse owners feel the need to “replace” their older senior horse, and in many cases, this means moving the retiree on. Luckily for Keeper, Sarah vowed to keep him until he peacefully passed on her family’s farm, where he remains buried, overlooking the property’s tranquil creek. Unfortunately, most horses that come to the end of their riding/showing career are not as fortunate and, in some cases, end up in a kill pen at an auction house.

          While the United States no longer has active horse slaughter manufacturing facilities, horses that are sent to auction often end up on a kill buyer truck to be exported for processing. It is unfair that once someone’s best friend and confidant can become replaceable and essentially, “thrown out” or “dumped.” No animal deserves this. No animal deserves to live in fear, not knowing if they will ever have a loving home again. This is where Keeper’s Haven Animal Sanctuary comes in! Sarah wanted to honor her first rescue horse, Keeper, by providing a sanctuary for others. Every new sanctuary resident honors Keeper’s life and legacy. KHAS was created to show that every animal is a “keeper” and deserve to live out their days with love, dignity, and grace.

The Story of Van Gogh:

The most significant rehabilitation animal recovery project the sanctuary undertook in 2023 was a severely injured Katahdin sheep, Van Gogh. Van Gogh was surrendered to the sanctuary at the end of April in 2023. For the first eight years of his life, Van Gogh was living with a loving family on a small farmette in northern Virginia. In January of 2023, Van Gogh and his six other flock mates were brutally attacked by two dogs that escaped their home and ventured onto the neighbor’s property late at night. The devastating attack led to the death and mutilation of four members of his flock, with two others making it out with limited injuries, and, fortunately, made full recoveries. Van Gogh was not so lucky. He suffered extreme injuries to include: losing an ear, suffering from multiple bite wounds and punctures, and sustaining numerous injuries to his back, spine, and body after a gate fell on top of him during the attack. Van Gogh’s owners were heartbroken, distraught, and devastated from the events that occurred. From the time of the attack until the end of April, Van Gogh’s owners tried to provide the care to heal Van Gogh and his remaining flock members. Unfortunately, due to time and financial constraints, his owners were left with a tough decision after he took a nosedive in his recovery process. They were at a point where they were looking at euthanasia or surrendering him to a rescue in hopes that there was a chance he could live a full and happy life. That is where Keeper’s Haven Animal Sanctuary came in!

Van Gogh’s owners contacted us as their last hope. While struggling to decide the best decision for Van Gogh, they wanted to give him every chance possible to make a come back recovery. The KHAS team went to meet Van Gogh on April 22, 2023 to evaluate his current condition and discuss surrendering him with the owners to the sanctuary. The owners decided that they did not want to give up hope on him yet and surrendered him to the sanctuary on April 23, 2023. This marked the start of our journey with Van Gogh.

Upon arrival, while many of his superficial wounds did heal (including where he lost his ear), Van Gogh was unable to stand or walk, he suffered from severe urine burns and bed sores from being down for an extended period of time, and extreme trauma to both his body, mind, and soul. This was not only a recovery project to mend his physical injuries, but to also mend the trauma he endured. While many would say, why put all this time and energy into an animal? Why try to save one that is on death’s doorstep? The answer is quite simple. Van Gogh still had that glimmer in his eye. That look of hope. He was not ready to give up and we were on a mission to show that we would be there every step of the way if he was still wanting to fight.

His initial care and rehabilitation program we developed, alongside veterinarians, was quite extensive. He needed around-the-clock care. After his first veterinary evaluation and consult, Van Gogh was prescribed antibiotics for a severe hock infection in his hind leg where the bone was exposed, daily pain medication. We also started acupuncture to stimulate his nerve function, chiropractic work, and full body magnawave. His belly and legs needed to be cleaned multiple times a day, to help heal his bed sores and urine burns, along with his exposed bone injury on his hind leg. He wore socks and wraps on his legs and around his belly to protect his wounds and the areas that suffered extreme hair loss as a result of his urine burns. We laid him on a camping air mat to comfort his bed sores and he wore diapers that were changed multiple times a day to keep him from soiling himself. Since he was unable to move, he needed to flipped multiple times a day to prevent new bed sores from forming, help heal his current ones, and keep his blood circulating properly. Keep in mind that the average male Katahdin sheep weighs between 180 - 250 lbs, making it a bit challenging to flip and move him.

We started his physical therapy program to strengthen his muscles, almost immediately, after his arrival to the sanctuary. Moving his legs and later assisting him with a harness and pulley lift to allow him to stand and rebuild muscle while he was unable to lift himself up on his own. Every day, he became stronger and eventually we were able to extend his time standing independently from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. While to most this may seem like a little feat, to us, this was a huge milestone! Van Gogh still needed the assistance to stand, but with his increasing strength, he was able to stay up with only slight assistance to keep his balance centered. Along with his physical therapy program, he had bi-weekly magnawave, weekly acupuncture, and bi-monthly chiropractic work.

About a month after Van Gogh’s arrival, we began adding walking into his daily physical therapy program. A KHAS supporter made Van Gogh his own custom “walker” with a harness system that helped to support his body weight as he learned how to walk again. We would take Van Gogh to the grass yard to graze, enjoy the warm sunshine, and practice standing and walking. It was important that he still received mental stimulation and enjoyment of the outdoors, plus the reminder that he can still do all the things sheep do!

In June of 2023 Van Gogh’s mobility and balance was greatly improving! He was starting to walk more independently, needing less assistance to keep his balance, was standing for longer periods of time, and even grazed independently, which was a huge accomplishment! While we were thrilled with Van Gogh’s progress, he needed one more milestone to be able to live a full and happy life, being able to stand up on his own. Up to this point, even as he was gaining strength and walking with less assistance, he still needed help getting up from laying down. Van Gogh was not ready to give up yet. Once we reached mid-June, Van Gogh accomplished his next milestone moment, he stood up on his own! At this point, we knew that Van Gogh had every will to keep trying, to keep working, to keep going.

Over the next several months, Van Gogh regained the ability stand, walk, lay down, graze, and do all the things a happy and healthy sheep can do! We still keep up with his rehabilitation therapies, but we were able to go to a maintenance level of weekly magnawave, monthly acupuncture, and monthly chiropractic work. Being a part of Van Gogh’s journey to recovery was the most fulfilling accomplishment to witness and the appreciation Van Gogh gave back is by far the biggest reward for the months of hard work and dedication we gave to this amazing soul. Van Gogh was an outstanding patient every step of the way. He knew we were there to help him, to guide him, to heal him. Now, about a year after the attack, Van Gogh is able to live a normal life, grazing, walking, sleeping with his favorite stuffed animal toys, playing with his lamb friend, Picasso, and even running short distances! His recovery process and will to live really shows the need for animal sanctuaries that can help provide the care to these animals that are not ready to give up, that still have that vigor and will to live! All the team members of KHAS, volunteers, and donors made our mission to show Van Gogh that he is a keeper possible.