RAMONA, Calif. — Many animal rescues help cats and dogs, but what happens when a horse, goat or pig needs a home? In this Zevely Zone, I went to Ramona for the kiss of a lifetime. 2 The Rescue Animal Sanctuary is dedicated to providing a safe haven for unwanted animals.
"I have always had a huge love for animals," said Ilana Friedman. She is the founder of 2 The Rescue Animal Sanctuary. "This is my love. This is Ferdinand. Get ready to get slobbered on," Ilana said while introducing me to her steer. Next, I met a turkey. "This is Adam. Somebody left Adam in my driveway a week and a half ago," she said.
The sanctuary provides a clean, safe, loving environment with comfortable shelter, good nutrition, and health necessities taken care of. Ilana's primary concerns are for the well-being of all the animals in our sanctuary and to save the lives of as many animals as possible.
She has always been very passionate when it comes to animals. She spent her childhood in South Africa where she was always surrounded by different kinds of animals. She has never understood how people are able to discard their pets. She also can't fathom destroying animals due to lack of space.
"Everybody in here is a mischief maker. Every one of them," said Ilana. She calls them her hooligans. "This is Dali," said Ilana while introducing me to her llama. "This is Teddy and that's buddy," she said introducing me to her goats and sheep. "This is Jenny, Peter and Tinkerbell," she said as I met the donkeys. "That's Buckwheat. He is an alpaca," said Ilana with a big smile.
Ilana left a successful career in high fashion to help the likes of Toby the Tortoise and Brittle who was the biggest goat I've ever seen. "These are my grumpy old men," said Ilana about her pigs named Hammy and Harley. "He was found roaming Coachella, roaming the streets of Coachella!" said Ilana.
So, why take them all in? "My son abandoned me and went to college, and I needed to change up my life," said Ilana who likes to joke around but according to her parents Paulette and Sid, it is tough for their daughter to make hard decisions with a soft heart.
"It's a lot of work and she's not married, and as a result everything falls on her shoulders," said Sid. "All on her own with very little money. Any animal that is abused that comes here has a life of love and kindness," said Paulette with tears running down her face.
Horses that arrive near death are loved back to life like Luke. "He was on an auction for meat, I bought him so he would not go down to Mexico to be slaughtered," said Ilana. She raises money by inviting donors to the farm for what she calls "Sip and Paints" and farm animal yoga.
The animals are always hungry so if you've got lettuce, corn, zucchini, apples, pears, hay, grain, berries or anything an animal would like to eat bring it by the ranch.
During our visit when the food pantry got raided by Brittle the goat, Ilana told me to stand back. "I'm good at this," said Ilana. "It's not the first time he's done it." The way the animals raided the pantry looked a lot like the first day of a sale for designer dresses. "Well, that's where I got my training," laughed Ilana. "This place is entertaining every single day."
I'll say, where else can you kiss four thousand pounds of love. "He thinks he is a lap dog," said Ilana about Ferdinand her steer while receiving a big slobbery kiss. I was next. "That just happened," I said after receiving a kiss from Ferdy.
2 The Rescue Animal Sanctuary is looking for new donors and volunteers. For more information click here.