Our History
Little girls have BIG dreams. And with the favor, grace and provision of God, the support and encouragement of a loving family and friends those dreams can come true.
Proverbs 12:10 The righteous man regards the life of his animal.
I was one of those little girls. Y’all KNOW who you are… the kid that wants to pet and/or take home every animal encountered much to the amusement (or sometimes exasperation) of your parents. If we went to a friend’s house as a family and they had animals – pfftt I was gone and out with the dog… cat… horse…whatever. Desperately wanting a dog or a cat, I did my best to wear my parents out. No dice, until one-day Dad rescued a matted thin mess of a black mop (it was actually a miniature poodle) from a co-worker with an extremely ill child. He brought the poor neglected abused dog home Christmas Eve when I was about 6 yrs old. Ma slammed the door in his face despite the cold snowy evening… but quickly relented and Duke – after an initial period of extreme distrust and wariness – became part of our family (STILL my best Christmas ever). Duke soon repaid our kindness over in spades the day he defended us against 2 Dobermans that were attacking my sister and I (did I mention miniature poodle???) He fended them off long enough for my Dad to get between us and the dogs – I was about 8 by then. When I fell ill as a teen he spent years with me as I stayed fairly isolated from just about everything. He was a wonderful companion and saved me from many a lonely time with his cuddles and antics. He left us at age 17 when his kidneys failed. Sweet boy.
After college came 2 kittens from a box – Sugar and Spice – and from there after my marriage in 1993 to my childhood Young Life friend and active duty soldier Tim (thank the Lord He chose a husband for me who loves critters) with my medical issues our human family would never grow but our animal family surely did! There was Bristol (an oversized Whippet), Sadie (a German Shorthaired Pointer found covered in feces and infection, Phoenix (Staffordshire Terrier pup mauled by coyotes had a rear leg amputated) and Smidge the almost totally white cat. Most lived with us until their death as we moved from Army post to Army post but some were rehomed with loving families. Then came Ft. Campbell/Christian County Kentucky and Faith Outreach Church. Our faith and vision expanded as we grew in the knowledge of Jesus and the promises of God under our faithful loving Pastors. There were many sermons and bible studies we attended that grew our faith for the vision of Haven 12:10 Animal Sanctuary but there was one really special sermon preached by Pastor Paul titled Creation Care. It brought together our vision with the Biblical stewardship espoused in Genesis 1 and 2 and the realization that our passion to take care of God’s creatures and His creation stems from His Word. (This was probably 12-13 years ago we still have the CD for this sermon and still listen to it!!) Then along came our first horse Micah. He too was eventually rehomed to a young lady who loved a challenge (he was a fiery proud Quarter Horse out of the Cowgirl/Doc O’lena lines) but by then we had grown with more cats and dogs and more horses. There is a great love for animals here in Western KY but along with that comes a population explosion and folks taking on more they can financially or physically handle. We found ourselves drawn to those animals who were severe neglect cases, strays, ones seized by law enforcement due to cruelty, and the little pups who just were not going to make it without some intense TLC. We also have a passion for helping the community and educating people on what it really takes to be financially physically responsible for another creature great or small!! In the last year we have treated 5 dogs for heartworm (and we specialize in “big fluffies, some weighing 130+ lbs), replaced 3 ACL’s (knee ligaments – we’ve done 6 total) repaired a floating patella (kneecap) and amputated a front leg alone. We have poured thousands of hours and dollars into helping these beautiful creatures who just needed a chance. Over the past 3 years add to that multiple spay/neuter surgeries and canine runts that needed to be bottle fed goat milk and formula to thrive. We sold our beloved first home with 2 1⁄2 acres for a nearly 29-acre farm with 2 barns – and when we hit 20 animals it was time to go non-profit and expand our dream – allow others to come join in our purpose and increase our reach and ability to help more animals. Haven 1210 Animal Sanctuary was officially Incorporated into a 501c3 nonprofit as of January 1, 2020. As of October 2020 we have 9 dogs, 9 cats, 4 full sized horses, 2 ponies and 2 standard sized donkeys. Along the way we have been blessed to place dozens of precious creatures in loving homes.
Genesis 1: God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
29-30 Then God said, “I’ve given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth and every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.” And there it was.
31 God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.
Genesis 2:15 And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it….
19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every [wild] beast and living creature of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called every living creature, that was its name.
20 And Adam gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the air and to every [wild] beast of the field
The vision God has given us continues to expand but several things will never change. We are not a large kennel facility and therefore have to be very selective about the dogs and cats we take into our home because they live with us as a pack not in a kennel setting. Some of our dogs are indoor/outdoor where we have converted the garage and laundry room with outside access for those dogs who are not comfortable inside…. but overall they are in and out of our home with the cats! All of our animals are spayed neutered and all male equines will be gelded. We are still refining processes and procedures… even this website is brand new and it will morph over time as the Lord leads us. We rehome animals into loving families whenever possible but if not our animal residents will stay with us for the rest of their lives happy and loved by us and we are Animal Ambassadors for Haven when people visit the farm. We are developing community and education programs and offer opportunities for folks who would like to learn about horse, canine and feline care to come and learn and participate in Haven’s daily responsibilities and routines. We are ever on the lookout for volunteers we work hard up here but we have A LOT of FUN!!! We honor those who sacrificed on September 11th 2001 by calling our volunteers to action as Todd Beamer did on Flight 93….saying “are you guys ready? LET’S ROLL” and will continue to do so as God continues to give us the resources and passion to take action and make a difference…. spreading kindness & changing futures! So are you guys ready? LET’S ROLL!!!