Thanks to our generous supporters, animal sanctuary residents of Kindred Spirits Care Farm in Chatsworth Hills, California, now have safe lodging to prevent conflicts with native wild predators. We helped to fund and install the Compassion Barn, which serves as a model for how to foster coexistence between domestic animals and mountain lions. 

With your help, we raised $12,000 to build the Compassion Barn last summer. We co-hosted a volunteer day to help physically build the barn in December. Then, we celebrated this conservation milestone and blessed the Compassion Barn during a dedication ceremony at Kindred Spirits Care Farm on February 25.

The blessing featured a land acknowledgment, a prayer for coexistence, and a guided meditation with speeches by Karen Snook, Founder of Kindred Spirits Care Farm, and Marilyn Kroplick, M.D., President of In Defense of Animals. Participants offered a personal blessing by placing stones to form a heart on an altar in front of the Compassion Barn. 

Cougars in the Santa Monica Mountains are threatened with extinction. Over the past 20 years, almost 100 cougars on average were legally killed per year on depredation permits across California. This landmark project now serves as a model for coexistence in the region.

We arranged a “pre-conflict” visit between Kindred Spirits Care Farm and the Cougar Conservancy, which specializes in reducing human-wildlife conflicts through science-based management and conservation. The Compassion Barn was envisioned from this collaboration as a barn to house Kindred Spirits’ animal residents at night securely with a fully enclosed structure. 

The Compassion Barn at Kindred Spirits Care Farm showcases a humane alternative to depredation permits and saves more animal lives. Now that the Compassion Barn is operational, it serves as a model to educate and inspire micro-sanctuaries, hobby farms, and residences that house domestic animals in the region. 

Your donations funded this lifesaving work, and we’re grateful for your support. You can contribute to our continued efforts to protect wild and domestic animals by making a donation.