Every day, our Rescue & Placement team fields requests from across the country. In 2025, we received 925 inquiries representing over 13,000 animals in need. 

Thanks to our supporters, we can answer calls for help. While we welcome as many animals as possible into our own locations in New York and California, sanctuary space and capacity are limited. This means that not every animal we save can become a permanent resident of Farm Sanctuary—and collaboration is the answer. We recognize that working together across our movement is crucial to saving as many farm animal lives as possible and mitigating the harms of our food system. 

Below, you’ll find the moving stories of a few of the animals whose lives have changed thanks to the help of our FAAN partners.

In 2022, a woman inherited a Vermont farm, where 10 cows still lived. Not being a farmer, she was told to send the animals to slaughter, but she knew they deserved a chance. Farm Sanctuary leapt into action, driving from our Upstate New York sanctuary to Vermont to help. 

While two of the cows found their permanent home with us at Farm Sanctuary, the remaining eight were welcomed by two of our FAAN partners in a powerful collaborative rescue. We brought four of the cows to their haven at VINE Sanctuary in Vermont, and four on a longer journey to Alabama, where they were welcomed by Dominion Farm Sanctuary.

Watch their inspiring story below:

Ash’s story is a reminder that sheep are far more complex than they’re sometimes perceived to be. They are intelligent individuals with unique personalities, emotionally rich lives, and the capacity for deep trust and affection. Ash isn’t “just a sheep”—he’s a friend, a mama’s boy, a treat enthusiast, and a source of joy to all who know him.

Duncan was found alone at a truck stop, likely after falling or jumping from a transport vehicle. A passerby asked Farm Sanctuary to take action—and knowing we had people to turn to as well, we quickly shared Duncan’s story in our FAAN Facebook group. Meanwhile, Chicagoland Pig Rescue stepped up to provide a foster home and the veterinary care he needed for several months until he found his permanent family. 

Then, two sisters came across our Facebook post and welcomed Duncan with open arms. Katherine and Madison co-run a refuge for farm animals in New York, where Duncan is now deeply loved by Piglet pig, who also survived a fall from a transport truck, and Dolores, a mother pig who’s healing from the recent loss of her daughter as she watches over Duncan.

“Being part of the Farm Animal Adoption Network not only offers connection and community within the sanctuary movement but opens the door for rescues made possible by collaboration,” says Amanda Upshaw, founder of Dominion Farm Animal Sanctuary, a FAAN partner.

The seeds Farm Sanctuary planted in 1986, as the first organization dedicated to farm animal rescue and advocacy, have long since grown into a movement—with hundreds of sanctuaries nationwide and around the world.

Everyone in the FAAN community is a vital part of this movement and will continue to help save lives as we forge ahead into our next 40 years of hope and healing for farm animals.

Learn more about the Farm Animal Adoption Network here.