Photos by: The Sanctuary at Soledad
The Southeast is grappling with widespread devastation after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the U.S. on Thursday, revealing many heartbreaking stories. As the strongest hurricane on record to strike Florida’s Big Bend region, it tore through several states, resulting in at least 130 fatalities, knocking out power to millions, and trapping families in treacherous floodwaters.
The Sanctuary at Soledad, located in Mayo, Florida, has faced unimaginable destruction from the powerful hurricane, sharing images of what remains of their sanctuary on social media.
Thankfully, all of the animals and staff at the sanctuary survived the storm, but several of their barns were left in ruins, and they are in desperate need of help.
The Sanctuary at Soledad was formed in 2015 by Julian and Carol Pearce. Originally a goat dairy farm, it was converted into an animal sanctuary and rescue after they realized that using animals for profit is both unfair and unethical. Their original sanctuary was located in Mojave, California.
In June 2019, a decision was made to relocate the sanctuary to Mayo, Florida, where they purchased over 20 acres of farmland. The property featured an old farmhouse, making the conversion to a sanctuary relatively straightforward. The move was dangerous and unnerving, but all 300+ animals were successfully relocated from the Mojave Desert to the lush, green fields of Mayo. Then, the unthinkable happened when Hurricane Helene made landfall.
“As far as we can tell, there is no way to come back from this. I don’t know what to say. We didn’t have enough time to prepare ourselves. I’m not sure what we would have done differently, but here we are.
“However, all of our animals survived unscathed. We heard the news and transferred them to our most sturdy barn, the smaller one. They were all huddled together during incredible winds topping over 100 mph.
“Hurricane Helene ripped through our property, damaging all but one small barn. We have three barns in complete ruin, and our mobile home, which we live in, was shifted and partially damaged.
