A New Barn for Second Chance Animal Rescue

Second Chance has been taking in neglected and surrendered farm animals in the Blue Ridge foothills since 2009: goats with personality disorders (their words, not ours — okay, our words), blind donkeys, retired dairy cows, one emu named Gerald, and currently sixty animals who were each, at some point, somebody's afterthought.

Last February, an engineer friend looked at the main barn — built in the early 1980s — and stopped being polite about it. The foundation is heaving, the roof load rating is a memory, and one more heavy snow could bring it down on the animals it shelters. We've propped, patched, and prayed our way through two winters. We're out of prayer-grade lumber.

The new barn is designed and quoted: a 60-by-100 steel-frame structure with proper drainage, quarantine stalls, and a heated corner for the seniors (Gerald has opinions about drafts). Total cost is $74,000; our board has committed $14,000 from reserves, leaving $60,000 to raise by October so we can pour the foundation before frost.

We're a registered 501(c)(3) and every donation is tax-deductible. Donors at any level get barn-raising day invitations — yes, an actual barn raising, with the Mennonite crew from Yancey County leading and lunch served for all. The animals would write you thank-you notes, but most of them would eat the notes. Come meet them instead.