History: How Sara’s Sanctuary Came To Be

The inspiration for what was to become Sara’s Sanctuary was born in 1998. For twenty-five years Terri was the sole owner of Salon 87. With her exposure to so many people, the word of her love of animals spread throughout the community. For a variety of reasons, she was be asked to help with animals that were in need of care and a loving home. Over the years and through the Salon’s many patrons and friends, she was able to place many of these animals in new homes. Many of these animals needed special attention before they could be placed. She was able to nurse them back to health or teach them the social behavior they lacked before they moved on to their new lives. If they were unadoptable, she offered her own home as a place to live out their lives in a safe and loving environment. Amazingly, despite the many types of creatures she brought in, they all learned to cohabit peacefully together, a cockatoo and dog (named SARA--who the Sanctuary is named after), a cat and mouse, a pig and raccoon are just a few of the life-long friends that were made there. That is how the concept of an all-species animal sanctuary came to be.  The lack of resources for animals in the community was the main impetus for the creation of Sara’s Sanctuary.

March 2000: Sara’s Sanctuary became a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation.  Shortly thereafter, a Microsoft executive and long-time friend of Terri’s came to her with a very generous offer. This wonderful man offered to buy and donate a piece of property to allow the Sanctuary to accommodate the growing number of animals and birds that had nowhere else to go. Most were abused, abandoned, sick or neglected. On December 20^th, the land was found, bought and dedicated to the Sanctuary for its lifetime. The property was to be fully donated in title to the Sanctuary within three to five years. Terri sold her own home and property to generate funds to operate the Sanctuary. The construction began.  Proceeds from the home sale were used to upgrade the property to fit the needs of the Sanctuary. This money was also used to fund the monthly operating expenses for the first three years while a donor base was developed to help financially support the care of the animals.

March 2001: Dennis Bunten joined Terri in her mission as Sara’s Sanctuary began to grow.

Year 2003:  A week before Christmas the donor of the property notified Terri that he  would not be able to continue to honor the original agreement to donate the land.  The Sanctuary would now need either to pay the amount of his mortgage payment ($3,200 per month) as rent or the Sanctuary could buy the property.  Otherwise, he would sell the property to someone else and another home would have to be found for the 200+ animals now living at Sara’s.  The Sanctuary could not afford $3,200 a month in rent. After devoting three years of hard work and building the many animal enclosures to fit their special needs, there was no choice other than to find a way to purchase the land for the Sanctuary. The financial investment into this property could not be replaced at another location.  These funds were gone.

Year 2004:  The Sanctuary had no capital to buy the land. Terri liquidated her investments to make the down payment of $140,000 required by the mortgage company. With these funds applied to principle, the monthly payment was lowered from $3,200 to the current amount of $1,099.

Dennis, who had been tirelessly working to improve the grounds and enclosures at the Sanctuary, offered to give up his apartment and leave his existing life to move onto the property and pay the monthly mortgage.

The Sanctuary Now Has a “Lifetime” Home for Animals!