Special Warriors
Special warriors are animals to be loved, not to be used. They are animals to be cared for, cherished, not discarded. Please join us in lifting up special warriors that might need a little extra care, but have a lot of love to give and a lot of life left to live.
“Only the gentle are ever really strong.”
-James Dean
Current Special Warriors in Our Care
Cole
Cole was found abandoned out by the Oakland airport in the industrial area. When taken in to the vet, it was discovered that he had been neutered but had not been microchipped. When we took him in at the Sanctuary, we got him up to date on all his bloodwork, flea treatment, and got him microchipped. After being in quarantine to be cared for here at the sanctuary, it was also discovered that after some sort of previous trauma, his pelvises had been broken and rehealed to obstruct his ability to have a bowel movement. After undergoing surgery to remove massive obstructions of stool, he is now doing well but requires daily medicine to soften his stool to a soft consistency so that he can go the bathroom. He is the cutest black cat who loves to purr and be cuddled once he gets to know you. His missing couple teeth and lower lip give him the cutest character. Cole would do best in a senior to senior home for a constant companion.
Qtip
Qtip was living at a rehabilitation center when a volunteer noticed she was hurt and unable to walk. He asked if he could take her to get looked at by a vet. He took her to Veterinary Emergency Group in Pleasant Hill where it was discovered her right leg was frozen stiff from injury and her right foot was completely mangled, it eventually fell off and that’s how she got her name 🥲 .
She was treated with pain medication and antibiotics. The kind man that took her in couldn’t keep her so they asked Goatlandia Sanctuary to take her in. They did and then reached out to us. Her legs were splayed and she couldn’t stand. She was very thin, but she had a good appetite and drank well. We immediately started her in a wheelchair to get her legs to dangle correctly. I brought her to be evaluated by our avian vet, Dr. Galusha at Veterinary Emergency Group. Her stump on her foot still had not healed so she was started on more antibiotics and it was recommended to supplement her with tube feedings for a week or so to help with any deficiencies she may have. She learned quickly how to hop on her good leg and has been integrated in with our other special needs hens. She is definitely living her best life now.
Colonel Joe
Meet Colonel Joe, a very recent addition to the Sanctuary. Colonel Joe is a special warrior with bumble foot and arthritis. We found him when he hobbled over to our Founder, Kim, when she was at a Haybarn in Tracy. He is 6-7 years old and a total sweetie at heart who loves to be held. Since finding Colonel Joe, he has had his bumble removed by a doctor at VEG and now has custom booties made to help the healing process for his wounds. He is currently on antibiotics and pain medication. We are happy to have found him and taken him in.
Lola
Meet Lola! Lola is our newest addition to the Sanctuary and an ameraucana hen rescue. Lola was living inside a home for four years with a dog and cat after her flock mates were killed by a predator. She deals with chronic bumblefoot, is blind in her left eye, and has five toes.
Thomas
Thomas was abandoned with his mom and 2 other littermates. He is a very sweet cat without use of his legs. Luckily, vets at UC Davis Neurology determined he feels no deep pain to his lower legs. Thomas needs his bladder to be manually expressed 4 times a day until he's 1 year old. He is very active and loves to play with his friends and family. Do you have the skills and love to open up your home to him?
Scout
We have had Scout since he was a chick in 2019. After being hatched by a family in the foothills, Scout's lower beak started to grow to the left and his family reached out to us as the Sanctuary for intake. After trying to feed him with soupy mash but it not being enough nutrition for him, we had him evaluated. We started gavage feeding Scout to help him gain weight, but he has advanced to torpedo feeding for daily nutritional needs. We are proud to have him as a Sanctuary resident.
Willow
Willow came from Grass Valley, bred for meat but was overfed, developing bone spurs off of all her legs. She has severe mobility issues due to the bone spurs and is currently on pain medication twice a day with a restricted diet. She is a sweet, social and always hungry cornish cross hen.
Skully
Skully was brought in after her skull was damaged by her other flock mates and became necrotic. She is now a resident at the Sanctuary after surgery successfully repaired the skull damage.
Chevy
Chevy is an elderly game hen with brown shades who came to us after being abandoned in a 7/11 parking lot in Sacramento. Over a period of several weeks, she kept being spotted by a local who reached out to a Sacramento animal rescue that in turn contacted us for adoption. She is blind to the right eye and has a feisty personality.
Giorgi
We have had Giorgi since she was about 14 weeks old and her own family wasn't able to feed her due to her continually growing scissor beak. Because of this, we were torpedo feeding her for a while and switched to gavage feeding once she started laying eggs to make sure she was still receiving full nutrition. We love having her as a resident of the Sanctuary!
Previously Taken Care of and/or Passed Special Warriors in our Hearts
Oberone
Oberone was transported to UC Davis with his brother Knox at two days old. Oberone was mildly dehydrated and passing pasty diarrhea. He has congenital deformities of his left hind limb where his leg ends at the level of the metatarsal, basically it ends where is ankle should be.
He’s missing six bones of the toes and has two small hooves growing at the end of his left limb. He also has limb deformity on the right hindlimb and mild carpal contracture to both front knees. He had decreased respiratory function, inflammation and mild dehydration. UC Davis did an ultrasound and it showed that he had fluid in his lungs consistent with aspiration pneumonia on both sides, worsening on the right.
He was treated aggressively for his pneumonia and given supportive care to prevent any more diarrhea. He was taught how to nurse on a bottle and he has been standing a little bit more each day. He continues on antibiotics that we will give subcutaneously now that he has been discharged.
Samson
Meet Samson! Samson was born as a premature Boer goat twin to a goat breeding family in the Bay Area.
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Samson had wry mouth which means his jaw was deviated to the left so he had trouble nursing on his mom but he learned to take a bottle pretty well. He had bilateral contracted front carpal joints, which required him wearing splints to both front legs for a few weeks. Fortunately, he did not have joint ill (a dangerous and life threatening diagnosis).
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He was seen at a UC Davis veterinarian hospital and while at our Sanctuary, we followed their treatment plan.
Samson learned to walk and run and was just the cutest little 6 lbs.
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Unfortunately after finding his final home at another sanctuary, he passed due to internal complications.
Lady Sybil
Lady Sybil came with two sisters to our Sanctuary, all named after the Downtown Abbey sisters. She is small, petite and shy. She has a nasal bacteria chronic respiratory disease named Mycoplasma gallisepticum which causes nasal passages and eyes to swell. Lady Sybil also has heart issues so she also is on cardiac medication.
Molly
Molly was a very sweet, special chicken we enjoyed having at the sanctuary for a shorter than normal time. Sanctuary founder Kim met Molly when visiting some working cats in downtown Danville. The homeowner had found Molly lying down in the run, very weak and she was approximately 16 weeks old, so it was very unusual she was not active. Kim asked the owner if the Sanctuary could take her and try to rehab her a little bit more. With the owner's approval, we took her into our avian vet and made a plan for her physical therapy and feeding her to gain weight. It was thought she probably would never walk because she didn't have proper reflexes with her feet, but then she ended up walking over time and gaining weight slowly. However, Molly wasn't interested in food even with us tube feeding her to keep weight on. It was suspected that she had Marek's Disease. She started improving enough that I could get her into my special needs coop, but then she just started deteriorating. She passed here at the Sanctuary, but thankfully she had grown to be able to walk. We will miss her.
Caroline
Caroline is a red Boer doeling with a shoulder deformity. Caroline’s shoulders did not form correctly so she needs to be limited in her activity (something very tough for goats since they like to jump all over the place), but she has been very healthy and not needed any treatments. She is looking for a home and would love to be adopted alongside Easton because of their tight, loving bond.
Easton
Meet Easton, a purebred Nubian wether who is new to the Sanctuary. We took him in after he was designated as “failure to thrive” and he is currently being treated for anemia. We are also boosting his immune system with Probios and milk thistle to aide his liver. He's been dewormed, treated for coccidia, and given antibiotics to ensure his well-being. Don't be fooled by his small size; Easton's determination knows no bounds. He is strongly bonded with Caroline, our female doeling, and would do great in a home with her.
Pocket is a female Nigerian dwarf goat we are currently fostering for Genevieve’s Gentle Heart Rescue. She was brought to UC Davis for treatment after it was discovered she had “joint ill”. When we first took her in we were bottle feeding her twice a day but she recently has weaned off bottles. She has a big heart and absolutely loves being with people.
Cruz
When Cruz was rescued she was initially an angry bantam, but with a loving, safe home soon developed the sweetest personality. Similar to Lady Sybil, Cruz also had Mycoplasma gallisepticum and went through treatments for it before passing.
Izzy
Izzy was the Sanctuary's Silkie Frizzle chicken and struggled with walking and feeding due to how her legs stood while eating. She came to us with a torn ACL that reattached in the wrong place on her leg and surgery was unable to repair it. She has since passed but lived a full life with lots of food and love here at the Sanctuary.
Barney
Barney was an almost 2 month old male water buffalo calf that was found "down" on a hill, unable to stand or walk. The farmer was told by a vet to just let him pass. Fortunately, an employee reached out to Genevieve's Gentle Heart rescue to help again. Together we decided to try and rescue him and bring him to UC Davis. He stayed at UC Davis in critical condition for several days before passing. We will miss him dearly.
Karson
Karson was an 8 year old Sheltie when he began having seizures. We took him to UC Davis for an MRI of his spine and head. There was no tumor or cancer but he had olfactory bulb changes and dead tissue that caused an empty space. It was questionable whether it was from a vascular stroke or trauma. He continued to be managed on seizure medication but unfortunately they became more frequent and debilitating. He has since passed.
Laney
Laney was rescued from a factory farm in Central California and was rehabilitated . She always had neurologic issues that progressed to the point she couldn’t hold her head up and walk straight. She was the biggest cuddler, loving hugs and attention.
Max
We took in Maximillian, an elderly male cat that was abandoned at the base of Mt Diablo. He was blind and deaf. When we first took him in we had him evaluated by our mobile vet and had a full work up done on him. He tested positive for FIV and was severely dehydrated. He also wasn’t interested in eating. We tried so many different types of food and also began giving him SQ fluids daily which helped him perk up and begin eating. He was seen by an ophthalmologist who put in eye drops to control his eye pressures. He needed both eyes removed but wasn’t a candidate for surgery due to his blood work being abnormal. He began to trust and love to be held and stroked. He was able to find his litter box and loved to curl up in his cozy bed. He passed one evening in his bed.
Rosie
Rosie was rescued from a hoarder in Palo Alto. She was found squished under items in the home, leading to issues all over her body with muscle growth, bone growth, neck extension issues. Rosie was such a strong warrior with a will to fight and survive with a huge respect for other chickens.