Meet Ilana Friedman | Founder, Farm animal rescue and sanctuary

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ilana Friedman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ilana, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
The habits I have formed over my many years in the work force that have helped me succeed are that I try to always leave it better than I found it, and to always under promise and over deliver.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a registered non profit animal rescue and sanctuary located in Ramona, California. We are very proud to be one of very few rescues who actually focus completely on rescuing, rehabilitation, and when possible finding forever homes for animals that have suffered extreme abuse, neglect, starvation, and slaughter.
On a daily basis, dealing with animals that have been treated so horribly can be very taxing on your soul. Some of the things people do can really haunt you for a long time. The reward is for example, seeing a horse living its very best life after rescue and rehabilitation, when your vet said the horse would not survive when first rescued. Or a chicken that is missing most of its back because it was attacked by a dog make a full recovery. We focus on making a difference one animal at a time here. We welcome the public who would like to have a first hand experience with farm animals to resch out and make an appointment for a farm tour.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would spend time touring our sanctuary of corse! After spending time with our beautiful animals, we would go get a bite at one of my favorite local restaurants, Marinade on Main, Kountry Kitchen, Poke Ona ,then maybe hike potato chip rock, and finally end the night listening to our incredible artist Ashley Maven sing at Red, White and Brews!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
If it was not for my family, friends, volunteers and of course donors we would not be here. My family has had my back since the day I moved to Ramona to start this venture. Volunteers make a huge difference. They help in so many different ways, touching all aspects of running our sanctuary smoothly.My friends are always there for me.
Finally, without donors we would not exist. We rely completely on individual donations to fund our registered non profit.

Website: https://www.2therescueanimalsanctuary.org/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/2therescueanimalsanctuary

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RescueAnimalSanctuary/

Image Credits
Portrait by Tim Connelly

Pic with adam the turkey by Terry Johnson