We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ilana Friedman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ilana below.

Ilana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Our mission is to make a difference in animals lives “one animal at a time”. We are a registered non profit animal sanctuary and rescue, and believe that every single animals life matters. We focus on rescue and rehabilitation, and ensuring that every animal that passes through our doors live their very best life. Healthy food, great medical care , a clean environment and lots and lots of love are our ingredients for a fabulous life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After spending 30 years working for Nordstrom, I found myself disabled, and needing a life change. My son “abandoned” me and left for college, and I have had an incredible love for animals my entire life. In my late 40’s I started dreaming about rescuing animals. My intent was to rescue dogs and cats. Over 4 million cats and dogs are euthanized in California every year. After applying for non profit status and being approved, I started looking for a large property to fulfill my dream. I was still working part time when I could, so I picked Ramona for the easy drive back down to San Diego. I found a beautiful property that was over 5 acres, but Ramona zoning made it impossible to start a dog and cat rescue. (A 75K permit was needed). Due to this I decided to rescue farm animals. Not having any experience with farm animals, this has been quite the journey. I have had an incredible team of people helping me along the way, and now hold a vast knowledge in farm animals.
We currently have horses, ponies, a mule, mini donkeys, 2 30000 lb plus steers, an alpaca, pigs, goats, peafowl, pheasants, chickens, a turkey, ducks and Australian tumbling pigeons. Every animal on our property has been rescued either from slaughter, abuse, abandonment and or severe neglect.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Animal rescues are a dime a dozen. They are everywhere. Many advertise as being a registered non profit, and either have been suspended, or do not actually have a non profit status. The other main issue is it is very easy to say yes to every animal that needs help, which will quickly make you either a rescue that needs to be rescued, or a hoarder. Unfortunately most animal rescues are not well maintained, and the animals there live in squalor. What makes us different and special is that we are careful not to over populate our sanctuary, and make sure that everyone here is living their very best life. Because of this our rescue/sanctuary has an excellent reputation, and we continue daily to maintain our high standards.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

To start my non profit I needed $1,500 to pay Legal Zoom to help me with the non profit application. Being that I worked for Nordstrom in the Designer area, I went through my closet and pulled out things I did not wear and had a “Cocktails and Couture” sale at my house.

I invited all my friends, and we had a fabulous evening eating, drinking and trying on Designer clothing. I was able to raise the $1,500 and happily paid to get the assistance I needed to apply for my non profit status.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.2therescueanimalsanctuary.org/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/2therescueanimalsanctuary
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RescueAnimalSanctuary/

Image Credits
Cindy Friedman