KUNA, Idaho — Dominifarm Animal Sanctuary in Kuna has been closed to the public for the past nine months and needs financial help to welcome visitors again.
More than 100 farm animals — including emus, pigs, horses, ducks, goats and plenty of other creatures both big and small, young and old, injured and disabled — call Dominifarm home.
"So we like to call ourselves an assisted living community for animals because most of our animals are older," said Dominique Delobbe, founder of DominiFarm.
"It was a dream since I was a little girl," Delobbe said.
Until recently, the farm was open to the public, but after applying for permits to build a new barn, Delobbe was told they would need a special permit to welcome visitors back.
"We didn't know because there is no classification for a place like Dominifarm," Delobbe said.
An outdoor recreation facility permit is the closest option they could find. The problem is for it to be approved, they would need to build a brand new parking lot and driveway.
"So we cannot have visitors if we don't have the parking lot for them to park and that's a lot of money and it is funds that we don't have," Delobbe said.
All of Dominifarm's funding comes from private donors, and building a parking lot could cost more than $20,000.
If they can't raise the money, they may never reopen to the public.
"We are a sanctuary and not a petting zoo," Delobbe said. "Our mission is to the animals, but you know we would be upset about it because it makes such a huge difference, it's a way for us to give back to the community."
Erica MacLaren, who volunteers at the sanctuary, wants to see it welcome visitors again.
"By having it open to the public, it will bring a lot of awareness and donations, and give these animals even better lives than they already have here," MacLaren said.
Animals like Nacho the donkey, who has cancer, may not have had a chance at life without Dominifarm.
"Not a lot of people are taking I guess the unwanted animals or injured or disabled animals that people kind of get rid of and don't have the capacity to take on, so I think Dominique is really doing a great thing," MacLaren said.
You can help support Dominifarm's goal of reopening to the public here.
