Ben Madilynn
Animals are awesome. Not only are they cute and furry, but interacting with four-legged creatures has major health benefits. Just petting a dog can reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Interactions between people and animals can boost levels of oxytocin, the same feel good hormone that’s present in mothers bonding with their babies.
Not all of us can take care of a pet 24/7, but we still long for interaction with them. That’s why these resorts and sanctuaries that help save animals are so magical—they want you to come hang out with them.
These are my five favorites where you can interact with different species, from alpacas to kittens, in serene settings, helping to further the cause of animal rescue while boosting your own spirits.
1. Ojo Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Puppy Patch might be the happiest two words in the English language, and you can visit this wonderful place at Ojo Santa Fe, a full-service spa and resort on 77 acres, located 15 miles southwest of downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition to early-morning yoga and thermal-pool soaks, Ojo partners with Espanola Humane, a local animal shelter, to foster rescue puppies, and you can frolic with them in the resort’s grassy Puppy Patch (open daily from 9:30-11 A.M. and 5-6 P.M.). All of the puppies are up for adoption.
Ojo is also home to a flock of silkie chickens, a breed of hen that is known to be particularly soft and playful. The resort hosts a daily Chicken Chat in the outdoor coop, where you can learn about the birds and feed them fresh greens and veggies. Rumor has it that the chickens actually purr like cats when you pet them.
The 77-acre property also offers some solid high-desert hiking, with two miles of trails traversing arroyos and rock outcroppings while delivering views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (overnight rates start at $298).
2. Red Robin Song Sanctuary and Guest House
New Lebanon, New York
You don’t know charisma until a 700-pound pig sidles up to snort hello. That’s what happens at Red Robin Song Sanctuary, a rescue outfit for domestic and farm animals on 85 acres bordering the Berkshire Mountains of upstate New York. Red Robin Song’s impressive array of “guests ” also includes yaks, rabbits, goats, a donkey, and a mini horse.
“Most people have never seen animals like these in person before,” says Red Robin’s founder, Lisa Robinson. “We rehabilitated orphan beavers for a while. So many animals need to be rescued and need a forever home.”
Currently, Red Robin houses almost 50 different animals. Guests to the farm get a full tour that includes education about the drawbacks of a meat-based diet and commercial animal farming, while also spending time with many of the friends on site.
“You get a chance to meet the animals you might normally eat,” Robinson says. “And we respect the animals and the kind of interaction they want.”
For instance, some rabbits are skittish and only want to be admired from afar, and a few Tibetan yaks that were rescued from a meat farm aren’t quite ready to mingle with guests. But the goats are super social and many of the dogs are psyched to hike with you on the sanctuary’s 85-acre property.
Visitors can come for the day or stay overnight at the Red Robin Guesthouse, a three-room vegan bed and breakfast (from $162 a night), where proceeds directly support the rescue endeavor. In addition to the property’s immediate 85 acres of ponds, pastures, and woods, the adjacent 447-acre Hand Hollow Conservancy offers more than two miles of hiking trails.
3. Atlanta Alpaca Treehouse
Atlanta, Georgia
The Alpaca Treehouse packs a mighty punch in a small space. The property, which sits in East Atlanta in the midst of the South’s largest city, is only 3.5 acres, but it’s loaded with four alpacas, four llamas, and two guanacos. (A guanaco is a South American camelid similar to a llama, but typically only found in the wild.) All of the animals were rescued and on hand to interact with guests at the property’s treehouse, made from reclaimed wood and tucked into a lush bamboo forest.
“We started with chickens, and they were the gateway livestock to these other animals,” says Kara O’Brien, owner of the Alpaca Treehouse. “Llamas and alpacas are so smart. They’re just under dolphin intelligence. They communicate clearly with me and each other. They’re like big, teenaged smart cats. They’re hilarious. Each has radically different personalities.”
Stay at the treehouse and you can watch the herd of llamas and alpacas from your window, feed them baby carrots out of your hand, or take a yoga class with them. “One of our llamas, Figgy, actually goes into the yoga room and does yoga. She’s obsessed with it,” O’Brien says.
All of the proceeds from the one-bed Treehouse bookings (from $385 per night) go to rescue more llamas, which O’Brien then works to place in permanent homes.
4. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
Kanab, Utah
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, is the largest no-kill sanctuary in the country, housing more than 1,600 animals, ranging from cats to parrots to pigs, on a 3,000-acre property in Utah’s canyon country 45 minutes south of Zion National Park. Visitors can take the free daily Grand Sanctuary tour to learn about the ins and outs of caring for and rehabilitating the animals, or download the app to go on a self-guided tour. You can also volunteer to work in one of the care centers, hanging out with cats, picking up after bunnies, or tending to pigs.
If you feel a connection with a particular dog, you can even schedule a hike together on the sanctuary’s three miles of trails, which traverse red rock canyons and creeks, where you’ll find overlooks, Pueblo ruins, and a cave filled with water on adjacent BLM land. A stream runs through the property, making for a fun and splashy adventure.
The sanctuary has a welcome center, cafe, and store, and a variety of overnight lodging if you want to spend more than an afternoon. Best Friends Roadhouse is a 40-room hotel in downtown Kanab with a fenced-in dog park, splash zone, and slide-out pet beds (rooms from $133), and the sanctuary just updated its 18 on-property RV sites (from $61 a night).
If you score a room or RV site, you can even host a sleepover, giving a dog or cat a night away from communal living and you an opportunity to see if you’re compatible for full-time adoption. Proceeds from lodging help support the rescue mission.
5. Animal Place
Grass Valley, California
This 600-acre sanctuary in Grass Valley, California, which focuses mostly on farm animals, has rescued or re-homed almost 30,000 hens alone, not to mention numerous roosters, goats, turkeys, pigs, dogs, and even pigeons. Currently, more than 300 farm animals live at Animal Place, which sits in the Sierra Nevada foothills in an area that’s most famous for its gold-mining history.
Guests can take a guided 1.5-hour tour of the facility ($20 donation, book in advance) to learn more about the animals and the rescue process, while also spending time with some of the more social residents, like goats, sheep, bunnies, and pigs. Drop-in visitors can embark on a self-guided tour of the sanctuary on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. (but that does not allow contact with the animals). Keep an eye out for special events, like a Paint ’n’ Sip, where you drink bubbly and paint one of the cute farm animals.
Animal Place runs a guest house with enough bedrooms to host six to 10 people for stays up to a week. It’s a single-family home with three bedrooms and a central kitchen and living room. You can rent it by the bedroom (from $75 a night) or the entire house ($750 a night). Each stay comes with a free 30-minute tour where you’ll meet up to two species of animals. The guest house is currently being renovated, but is expected to be open for bookings in October.
6. Golden Dog Farm
Jeffersonville, Vermont
Golden Dog Farm is not an animal rescue, and has no overnight option, but if you like hanging out with adorable dogs in a beautiful setting, put this small farm on your list. The place is a family-owned maple-syrup facility (also producing honey and fruits) in Vermont’s Green Mountains 10 miles from Stowe Mountain Resort.
If you book a visit in advance at Golden Dog Farm, you can interact with the dogs. Yes, the dogs are popular and you need a reservation. There are two options; sign up for the Golden Retriever Experience ($80), which is essentially a playdate with at least 10 doggy cuties in a pasture on the farm where you can play ball, frolic, or just snuggle (while getting your share of social-media images).
Or book a slot for the Friday and Saturday night Wines and Wags, where a Master Sommelier discusses grape growing in Vermont while guests sample local wines—and then you get to play with the dogs. Yes!
Graham Averill is Outside magazine’s national-parks columnist. The best part of his day is walking his own rescue dog every morning.
For more by Graham Averill, see:
