T
Hope Haven Farm Sanctuary gives abused,
neglected animals a second chance.
BY JENNIFER BROZAK
I
f there’s anything
veterinarian Dr. Karen
Phillips wants the
public to know, it’s that
neglected and abused
farm animals need love
too.
Phillips, a Vermont
native who moved to
Pittsburgh in 1998,
is the founder of
Hope Haven Farm
Sanctuary, a nonprofit
organization dedicated
to rehabilitating and
caring for rescued pigs,
goats, sheep, poultry and
more.
Located in Franklin
Dr. Karen Phillips
Park, Hope Haven
provides a safe and
nurturing environment for animals confiscated by local humane
agents, surrendered at animal shelters or saved from factory farms.
The idea for Hope Haven was conceived when Phillips was working
as a spay/neuter surgeon at a local animal shelter.
“I was upset by the number of farm animals that were being
surrendered at the shelter,” she says. “It absolutely broke my heart,
because farm animals just can’t be properly cared for at a typical
shelter.”
Frustrated, Phillips began taking the animals home and nurturing
them back to health. One of the first animals she rehabilitated
was Isaac, a pot-bellied piglet who was rescued from the streets of
Pittsburgh. Isaac soon grew attached to her, much like a house pet
would.
In 2008 while on a long drive back to Pittsburgh from Vermont, she
was struck with a spark of inspiration: she would create a sanctuary
where abandoned and abused farm animals would be loved and
nurtured back to health. After four years of searching and planning,
she purchased a property on Wexford-Bayne Road in Sewickley in
2011. The property is close enough to the city to attract visitors, but
rural enough to allow her animals to roam safely.
“It was an abandoned property that had an old house attached to it.
My plan was to live in the house for the first year, and then offer it to a
caretaker who would live on the property. Yet, I’m still here. It might
just be me being a control freak,” she says with a laugh.
Phillips, a longtime vegan, is the farm’s sole caretaker. Formerly in
private practice, she now works three jobs to pay the bills. Volunteers
help periodically, but on a daily basis, it’s a one-woman operation.
So far, she’s set up two pastures, a chicken coop and a small barn.
Donations have helped, but more are always needed. Although she
offers guided tours periodically, Phillips wants to make the farm
more “public-friendly” and handicapped accessible. She also wants to
enhance the farm’s educational aspects so that visitors can understand
the plight these animals face.
“I want to make it magical, a child-like place,” she says. “In
childhood, we have this innate, passionate love for animals, and we
often lose that as adults. I want visitors to regain their compassion for
these animals. I just want it to be a great experience for everyone.”
More than 100 animals have found shelter at Hope Haven including
llamas, alpacas, peacocks, ducks, chickens and pigs. One of her
favorite success stories involves Butters, a mini horse that came to her
in 2014 after a long period of neglect.
“He was a bone rack. His hooves had not been trimmed and were
curled like elf shoes. He had parasites, and his constant neglect had
made him distrustful of people,” she says.
She nurtured Butters back to full health. “He filled out like a
Palomino and now runs around like a stallion,” she adds.
Another success story involves Rigby, an emu Phillips took in from
a farmer in Plum who had lost his job.
“Rigby follows people around and acts like a person. She’s definitely
the most entertaining animal of the bunch,” she says.
She’s also seen huge physical transformations in many of the
birds, including a hen named Phoenix who came to her through the
Animal Rescue League. The hen had been attacked and barely had
any feathers. Now she’s a “great little bird,” says Phillips. Many of the
poultry come to the farm debeaked with infected feet and the bacterial
disease pasteurella after living their lives in factory farms.
Hope Haven is the only farm sanctuary in Allegheny County, and
Phillips says that founding it has been a dream come true for her.
“It gets exhausting, and the winters are hard, but for me, it’s utopia.
I love it,” she says.
For more information about Hope Haven Farm Sanctuary, visit
hopehavenfarm.org. n
North Allegheny | Fall 2016 | icmags.com 43