News & Events

How can you do well by doing good? Collaborate with Home for Life® Animal Sanctuary, an internationally recognized care-for-life sanctuary for cats and dogs! Your company's corporate sponsorship of Home for Life® will inspire, educate and mobilize people who love animals and are moved to help the most vulnerable cats and dogs. Touch the hearts of people who love animals and want to make a difference by rallying them to support your business while helping the animals at Home for Life®!  Your support will help Home for Life® transform the direction of animal welfare by demonstrating what's possible and that the most powerful thing any of us can do to make a difference is to care!

Left: Sandy's townhouse engulfed in flames

Early Monday morning, February 8th, at about 1 am, Tammy, one of our overnight staff discovered "Sandy's Townhouse" was on fire. Thank God we have always had on-call night staff who monitor any sick animals overnight plus ensure the facility is secure; and thank goodness Tammy, who was on duty Sunday night, was on her toes. She smelled smoke and went to investigate the source, found smoke coming from Sandy's townhouse, and upon going inside saw that the wall was on fire. Tammy called Lisa, the Executive Director, and then both Tammy and Lisa called the fire department. Tammy located a fire extinguisher and got the three dogs out to safety, but the fire was beyond an extinguisher. Lisa also called one of our staff, Grace, who lives the closest to the sanctuary, and even though she had already worked a long day, she came in to help and support Tammy. Together they got the dogs moved so they were indoors and warm as it was well below zero.

Access Hollywood called last week—our little video starring some of our paraplegic dogs in the snow will air this week  all over the country!  ABC News!  NBC!  Fox News!  CBS!  People Magazine! Yahoo News!  Access Hollywood!  From New York to Florida to California!   (click here to view)

Though we have missed seeing our supporters for tours and visits at the sanctuary, 2020 hasn't been bad to Home for Life, and we are grateful to friends like Mark Luinenburg: Luinenburg Photography for helping us make it through this year to remember. Our staff and animals are healthy and well as the holidays approach, and we hope the same is true for you and your family during this season.

Dear Friends

If only we had known of Matilda’s years of loneliness at the end of a chain, outside in all weather, having one litter of puppies after another... we would have intervened long ago. How could a dog suffer such maltreatment and neglect just a few miles away from Home for Life® sanctuary, a beacon of caring and kindness to animals. But we didn’t know how Matilda suffered until one of our employees found her one day on the way to work. How many dogs and cats spend lives of quiet desperation without notice or help? Animal rescue organizations don’t have to travel far to find animals in need. Often the one who needs our attention and help the most is right nearby.

PLEASE REMEMBER Home for Life® Animal Sanctuary on Minnesota's largest day of giving -- Give to the Max November 19! We are a Minnesota non-profit based in Stillwater, MN with our facility located on 40 acres on the Apple River in Star Prairie, Wisconsin.

Home for Life® is small but mighty, and we know that a small sanctuary can make a big difference. For the nearly 200 animals that live at our sanctuary, Home For Life® is able to give its residents a quality life and not just a warehoused existence.

Left: A scene from the Home for Life® sanctuary.

photos: Mark Luinenburg
author: Robin Raven, Contributor

Left: Holly and Finn

Against a lot of odds, the pets at the Home For Life® sanctuary are too busy enjoying life to feel down.

Left: Snowball with Grace

What a great way to start October with the photos of Home for Life's dogs and cats from Mark Luinenburg's Fall shoot at the sanctuary!

While we have not been able to offer tours of the sanctuary this summer and fall as usual, until we can be together again, we invite you to take this virtual tour of Home for Life®.