ABOUT US
MISSION
To provide refuge to animals in need and promote compassion for all.
We do this by:
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Providing a permanent home for farm animals in need
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Rehoming suitable animals to carefully screened, exceptional homes
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Educating the public and sharing stories about the animals in our care
VISION
A Home for Animals
We offer sanctuary to as many rescued or surrendered farm animals as possible, but due to the sanctuary’s limited capacity, we also find suitable, loving homes for animals within the community.
A Place for Education
We currently offer limited visits to the sanctuary to regular sponsors and donors, as well as small school and community groups. Our vision is to become a centre where people come to connect with farm animals and learn to see them as individuals rather than commodities.
A Community for Compassion
We hope that Lailo Farm Sanctuary can serve as a place for those wanting to connect with animals and other like-minded compassionate people (e.g. through volunteering or special events)..
OUR STORY
Lailo Farm Sanctuary was founded in the summer of 2018 by Jen Lussing and her husband, Will Cooper. Earlier that year, the couple, along with their three young children, returned to Nova Scotia after living in New Zealand for many years. While in New Zealand, the couple ran a successful farm animal sanctuary where they rescued and rehomed over 100 animals. They have now settled into their new home near friends and family in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley.
From a very young age, Jen knew that she wanted to share her life with animals. She has worked in many animal related jobs, has a degree in biology and completed two years of vet school in New Zealand before she and Will started their family. Jen has been helping animals since she was a child and became more seriously involved in animal rescue while she and Will were teaching English in rural South Korea in 2003. There they rescued and rehomed many dogs. Jen had been a vegetarian since she was a teenager and their time in South Korea prompted Will to change his eating habits - realizing the hypocrisy of condemning dog and cat meat consumption while continuing to eat other animals. Jen, Will and have been vegan for the past decade and are raising children who are as appalled by the idea of drinking animal milk and eating chickens as most people are by the idea of eating dogs and cats.