HAPPY TRAILS FARM ANIMAL SANCTUARY, INC.
Answering the Call
Learn how to support this organization
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary rescues, rehabilitates and re-homes criminally abused, neglected and abandoned farm animals. Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary, Inc., founded in 2000, is a non-profit, which supports humane societies, animal protective leagues, sheriff’s departments and other law enforcement officials in Ohio with the rescue of farm animals and horses from situations of abuse, neglect and abandonment. Happy Trails handles the recovery and rehabilitation of the rescued animals, and also provides educational and community outreach programs. Since its creation in 2000, Happy Trails has accepted responsibility for the rehabilitation, daily care, veterinary and other health care expenses, retraining and re-homing of more than 3,000 farm animals and horses.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Animal Rescue
Rescue – working in cooperation with law enforcement and county humane organizations, we provide our service to Ohio and any state beyond requesting assistance.
Animal Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation – providing the veterinary attention, nutrition and maintenance care and nurture to each animal who enters the sanctuary.
Animal Adoption
Re-home – networking to find loving and forever homes for each animal based on the best match of people, personalities and facilities.
Sanctuary Tours
Meet the animals up-close and personal. Hear their stories. Give the piggies a belly rub. Pet the mini horses. Meet an ex-cockfighting rooster. Most importantly, learn how you can make a difference!
Amish Horse Retirement Program
With a focus on education, Happy Trails works with the local Amish community regarding the care of their horses and provides a safe landing for work and buggy horses who are no longer able to fulfill the requirements needed to remain on a working farm. In some cases, these horses may end up at an auction destined for slaughter. Thankfully, most Amish families care for their horses and show concern for where they will end up and how they will be treated.
Farm Animal Visitation Program
This popular, tried-and-true program helps teach people about compassion for animals by sharing their messages of hope and healing. Happy Trails Ambassadors hit the road with staff to visit nursing homes and schools and make special appearances at community events.
Healing Hearts Program
Happy Trails partners with Coleman Professional Services to create a mental health recovery program for victims of emotional trauma. The program provides animal education and correlates mental illness and abuse to animal abuse. Participants in the program develop meaningful connections with the animals, in turn helping them build confidence, develop trust and begin the process of healing.
College Service Learning Projects and Internships
By participating in group onsite service learning projects or internships, students learn about farm animal welfare and have the opportunity to experience first-hand what it takes to run a non-profit like Happy Trails. They engage in important dialogue about the struggles facing farm animals, help with daily chores and participate in special projects-and of course, they get to know the animals and learn their personal stories.
Where we work
Awards
Farm Animal Sanctuary of the Year 2020
Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries
Ellen R. Pearl Horse Whisperer Award 2021
EQUUS Foundation
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of law enforcement agencies assisted in animal cruelty cases
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Animal Rescue
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
HTFAS strives to assist any law enforcement or humane agent requesting assistance in the execution of search warrants, seizures and subsequent court proceedings.
Number of animals rescued
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Animal Rescue
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Each year HTFAS intake can be affected by the number of criminal investigations involving farm animals and horses.
Number of animals rehomed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Animal Adoption
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Rescue – working in cooperation with law enforcement and county humane organizations, we provide our service to Ohio and any state beyond requesting assistance.
Rehabilitation – providing the veterinary attention, nutrition and maintenance care and nurture to each animal who enters the sanctuary.
Re-home – networking to find loving and forever homes for each animal based on the best match of people, personalities and facilities.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Happy Trails is a unique rescue group, which serves as a support organization for all humane societies and animal protective leagues throughout Ohio and surrounding states. Animals who arrive at Happy Trails have been removed from their abusive situation by a county humane officer, sheriff, or other law enforcement representative. Many county rescue agencies are often full or may not have proper facilities to care for farm animals. As a result, they rely on Happy Trails to provide care and adoption services.
Happy Trails has also been called upon to house a farm animal during an abuse trial, or accept custody in the case of an animal surrender. Happy Trails provides rescued farm animals and equines with medical care, proper nutrition, clean and safe housing. During the animal’s recovery time, Happy Trails strives to not only heal broken bodies, but broken spirits as well. Once an animal has been rehabilitated, Happy Trails provides placement services through our adoption program. Our adoption counselors review applications, carefully screen prospective adoptive families and conduct site inspections of the facilities at the new home prior to placement. Happy Trails also provides proper care education for individuals adopting their first farm animal.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Humane education has become a central part of Happy Trails’ mission to teach care and compassion for all animals. We offer a variety of humane education initiatives throughout the community for public school children and other youth groups. In our Farm Animal Visitation Program, we bring animals to nursing homes and to group homes for people with disabilities so that these individuals and animals may visit with one another.
Happy Trails also provides support to the criminal justice system from search warrant through sentencing. Once an animal is in protective care of Happy Trails and its veterinary staff, each abused animal is documented and cataloged for the prosecution and humane officers. We are often called upon to provide expert testimony in court. To date, Happy Trails has been called upon in eleven counties throughout the state of Ohio to aid the prosecution in cases of animal abuse.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We made several capital improvements in 2020:
Adding photocell exterior lighting throughout the sanctuary to assist caretakers with early morning/late evening projects
Farm-wide water and electric line repairs
Installation of farm-wide security cameras
Construction of a new aviary
Construction of a new equine run-in and pasture
In 2021, our major capital project will be the replacement of our septic system.
Every year, due to the nature of our work, we are constantly repairing, upgrading and replacing buildings, fencing, etc. to keep our animal population safe and healthy.
We have also introduced an Owner Relinquish Initiative in 2021. We piloted this program in 2020 because we realized there was an overwhelming need in our surrounding community for animal owners who were no longer able to care for their farm animals due to medical emergencies or financial crises. (COVID-related or otherwise) In the past, Happy Trails only took owner surrenders in extreme situations, but following the trend, we believe that for our equine population, at least 80% of our horses will come from this new initiative. We hope that by offering owners a solution to this problem, we will be able to intervene before an animal ends up in the legal system due to abuse or neglect, or at an auction house where it will be sold for meat.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
HAPPY TRAILS FARM ANIMAL SANCTUARY, INC.
Board of directorsas of 01/18/2024
Gina Fortunato
ASPCA Pet Health Insurance
Term: 2015 -
Leighann Fink
Ninth District Court of Appeals
Term: 2020 -
Pete Grasso
JFT Properties
Tom Kaufman
Owll Marketing
Bob Mossing
Steris
Jess Rist
IBH Addiction Recovery
Jennie Highfield
National First Ladies' Library
Jeff Briggs
Entrepreneur
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/21/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.