Help Us Carry Them Into Winter 🍂

Nearly 60 animals call Happy Tales Animal Sanctuary home.

Some are young. Some are well into their senior years. Some require daily medications, supplements or specialized care. But every one of them has one thing in common:

Happy Tales is their home for life.

As the days get shorter and the temperatures begin to drop here in the mountains of Western North Carolina, we’re preparing for the colder months ahead.

Winter changes some of the rhythms of sanctuary life.

We keep plenty of straw on hand so shelters stay full, dry and cozy. We break ice out of water buckets on freezing mornings. We make warm mashes for meals. And our horses, cows, goats and other grazing animals need plenty of hay because eating forage helps their bodies generate heat and stay warm.

But so much of what keeps Happy Tales going doesn’t change with the seasons at all.

Every day there are animals to feed. Fresh fruits and vegetables to provide. Medications and supplements to refill. Hooves to trim. Individual dietary and care needs to meet.

Those basic, everyday animal-care expenses average around $5,000 every month.

That includes feed, hay, medications, supplements and approximately $125 each week in fresh produce for the animals who call Happy Tales home.

And that $5,000 is just their basic, everyday care.

It does not include veterinary visits, property maintenance, equipment repairs or fence repairs and replacement.

When one of those needs arises, it comes on top of everything it already takes to care for nearly 60 animals, 365 days a year.

Every one of those expenses matters.

A feed bill matters because it means dozens of animals have full bellies.

A bale of hay matters because someone has food in front of them on a cold winter night.

A bag of supplements or a bottle of medication matters because it can help an aging animal stay comfortable.

A bucket of produce matters because it becomes meals.

A repaired fence matters because the animals behind it are safe.

A veterinary bill matters because someone we love needed help and we were able to say yes.

These aren’t just bills.

Together, they are what make a life at Happy Tales possible.

A life where an animal is known as an individual. Where their needs are met. Where they are safe, comfortable, well fed and deeply loved.

A life where home really does mean home for the rest of their life.

And none of it happens without people who believe those lives are worth caring for.

This fall, we’re asking our community to help us carry them into the months ahead.

You don’t have to make a huge gift to make a difference.

$10 matters.
$25 matters.
$50 matters.
$100 matters.

Every gift becomes part of something these animals need, and every gift joins with someone else’s to make this sanctuary possible.

Thank you for helping us care for them.

Thank you for believing their lives are worth investing in.

And thank you for being part of their Happy Tales.

Let’s carry them into winter together. ❤️