Jacobs Ridge Animal Sanctuary

06/05/2025

A fundraiser update…we’ve reached 11% of our goal. THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

This outbuilding will become the hub of the infirmary, an onsite clinic which we’d eventually kit out with machines dedicated to the assessment and treatment of our larger animals, in some cases avoiding stressful trips to the veterinary hospital.

But first we must purchase the property. We have been renting this land (the original sanctuary site) since 2012. We purchased the mountain land 2 years ago with the intent of moving everything there but the pigs cannot legally be moved! Their only option is to stay where they are but now the landlord wants to sell and he has given us until June to raise the money!

We hope to be able to purchase the property to keep the pigs safe and to house elderly or disabled animals for whom the mountain land might not be suitable.

Please make a donation if you can. If everybody can help a little, we can achieve a lot!

DONATE: https://gofund.me/421e78ae

Thank you ❤️ (and thanks Macario for the backing vocals)

A fundraiser update…we’ve reached 11% of our goal. THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!This outbuilding will become the hub of the infirmary, an onsite clinic which...

02/05/2025

We are getting around to installing some of the larger gifts that we received at Christmas time!

We had a bit of a mystery delivery at Christmas: an enormous package arrived and none of us could remember what it was… until we realised it was a shed we’d put on our wish list! It was so big, the amazing owner of the local pet food store personally delivered it (thank you!!).

Plot twist: it’s going to be our new pig shelter! We can’t wait to paint it and make it cozy for the piggies 🐽

We also installed the baby gate for the feed shed, that was gifted, to keep Timo the dog and Steve & Dotty the donkeys out. Unfortunately, Steve is clever too and has already figured out how to open it so the door also needs to be shut to keep him out! Sometimes he’s too smart for his own good 😆

Thank you SO much to everyone who supports us, donates, or sends surprise wishlist gifts like mystery sheds ❤️

Remember we have a fundraiser going at the moment. If you can spare a few of your fine pounds/dollars/euros etc then head to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jacobs-ridge-infirmary

Thank you so much!

29/04/2025

For those who don’t know, yesterday Spain, Portugal and parts of France had power outages. The whole of Spain had no electricity or mobile coverage from 12.30pm for almost 12 hours.

Thanks to our {gifted} and Starlink, we were able to get online to check what was going on and power devices, charge torches etc.

All the shops closed, people were asleep in their cars at petrol stations.
It was crazy to see how dependent we have all become on power but although inconvenient, it was actually nice to be forced to disconnect.

They still aren’t sure about the cause of the outage…does anyone think donkeys were involved? 🤔😂

26/04/2025

597 pounds from our raffle has been added to our fundraiser! Thank you all so much for getting involved and congratulations to the winners! We have raised 17,117 pounds which is just incredible! We are so grateful to have such an amazing community like you 🥰

Please share our fundraiser and tell your friends and family why Jacobs Ridge is important to you and why they should donate! You know we like to keep things light hearted but to be serious for a moment...time is running out to make this dream a reality:

Jacobs Ridge Animal Sanctuary has been operational for over 12 years and provides a safe, lovin… Rachael Wheeler needs your support for Jacobs Ridge Infirmary

25/04/2025

Dentist visit!

Today 5 of the horses were sedated and had their teeth floated by our vet, Ana.
Dakota, Woody, Jacob, Verity and Spirit all needed a little bit of dental work to keep their mouths healthy ✨

Unlike human teeth, horse teeth continously grow throughout their life! The domestic horse diet is softer than that of a wild horse and so they need a little bit of dental work now and then to file down any sharp points to ensure they can eat properly and are pain free.

Gracias a .vet por hoy! 🙏🏻

To help us with ongoing costs you can become a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/jacobsridge where you will also be a part of an exclusive membership-only JR family and receive firsthand updates and other bonuses 🥰

Thank you all for your support! ❤️

21/04/2025

We’re building an animal infirmary—and the patients are already lining up (snouts first)!

At Jacobs Ridge, we’ve got a gang of golden oldies, wobbly sheep, and old pigs with more character than coordination—so it’s time we gave them the care space they deserve.

We are raising funds to build a dedicated infirmary here at the sanctuary in Spain—and yes, it will have plenty of snacks and snuggles included.

If you’ve ever dreamed of helping an ex-fighting dog find peace, or a retired piglet get their groove back—this is your moment.

Donate, share, or just send moral support (in carrot form).

https://gofund.me/99e04919


https://www.gofundme.com/f/jacobs-ridge-infirmary

20/04/2025

We are sad to share the news that this week we lost Julius, a month and a half after his diagnosis of an oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Julius was finding it increasingly difficult to eat and was rapidly dropping weight. We had him put to sleep at the Sanctuary on Monday. He was aged 8-9. In the days before, although he was barely able to eat, he was still interacting with the herd but it was clear that he was struggling with pain, despite being on painkillers.

Pigs hide pain very well so it’s never easy to make that decision for them but this was something that would only get worse and it was the most compassionate decision we could have made for him.

Thank you to those who donated supplements and supported us through vet bills for him plus all of the general donations which have helped care for him over the years. He had a few issues over the years and even had an eye injury at one point (hence the eye patch).

He was a very cute and gentle pig and we miss seeing his sweet face looking up at us every feed time.

Run free little buddy, we love you ❤️‍🩹🐽🌈