There is no formal training needed for individuals to start a farm sanctuary. P.E.A.C.E. has created this roadmap to help highlight some key points (but not all!) for individuals to consider when looking to start a farm sanctuary. This is also a great resource for established farm sanctuaries anywhere along their farm sanctuary journey!
We reference a lot of resources available on The Open Sanctuary Project‘s website, a freely accessible, always growing digital guide for any resources or information you need to responsibly create and successfully manage a farm sanctuary, or to provide the best possible care to non-human animals in order to help them live long, healthy, happy lives free of exploitation. We highly recommend reading their “So, You Want To Start A Farmed Animal Sanctuary?” resource, getting their Care Program Evaluation Checklist and doing the courses in their Compassionate Care Classroom.
On top of this roadmap and courses, we also highly recommend individuals to volunteer (for at least a year!) or intern at a farm sanctuary before starting their own, as noted in our “Start A Farm Sanctuary” resource! Think of it like “work experience”. As an example, you don’t just open a vegan restaurant and become a great vegan cook or baker right off the bat! Especially if you’ve never done it before. You learn from others who have more experience than you, take classes, practice over and over and even after launching the learning never ends!
Farm Sanctuary Roadmap Checklist
DISCLAIMER | P.E.A.C.E. has provided this roadmap as a service to the public and farm sanctuaries. Some of the information in this website has been provided by external sources. P.E.A.C.E. is not responsible for the accuracy, reliability or currency of the information provided by external sources. Users should please consult directly with the external source of the information.
This Farm Sanctuary Roadmap is a free resource created by P.E.A.C.E.’s Farm Sanctuary Roadmap Committee. It is a working document that will be reviewed and updated annually. Feedback and suggestions can be submitted here. Emails were last sent to farm sanctuaries in Canada for feedback in Spring/Summer 2021. We would like to specifically give a huge thank you to Tara Hess from The Open Sanctuary Project, Jessica Harris from the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, Michelle Singleton from A Home For Hooves Farm Sanctuary, Carrie Shogan from Little OinkBank Pig Sanctuary, and everyone else who has helped, offered feedback, and worked hard to put this roadmap together.