Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheila Murphy.
Hi Sheila, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
For most of my adult life, I dreamed of living somewhere outside of the city where I could have land and surround myself with animals. In 2017, my husband Michael and I moved from San Jose after I fell in love with a gorgeous 40-acre spot in the hills of Morgan Hill.
At first, it wasn’t an official rescue—just a vacant land with a barn, where planned to build a home The whole thing started pretty organically because of course with 40 acres you need some goats to help with the maintenance (that was my excuse at least, hehe). With the same mindset I had with previous pets like dogs and cats, we looked for any animals that might need a good home. We learned of four goats that were headed for a slaughter so we brought them home, bottle fed them and started falling in love with the idea of having more animals on the land. Before long, we went on the hunt for some guard animals for our baby goats. We found a two displaced alpacas that were looking for a new home, followed by two full-sized donkeys and a lonely goat from a donkey rescue. The hobby farm was growing, but we still never imagined what the universe had in store for us! The real turning point—the moment Alma Bonita Animal Rescue truly became what it is today—happened in 2019.
In April of 2019 we started to look to add a few more goats to our small herd. We put it out there to friends saying if anyone knows of someone looking to rehome goats to let us know. One of our friends happened to hear of someone that was selling all of there animals, but they were willing to give away three of their goats. Along with some volunteers, I drove out to the property just intending to pick up the three unwanted goats. But when we arrived, we walked into a heartbreaking scene of severe neglect, with animals living in terrible filth, in tiny pens, underweight and sickly. I looked around and knew I couldn’t just take the goats and leave the rest behind. So, after coming home and speaking to my husband we made the decision to do whatever it took to get the animals away from their current living conditions. We thought we would remove them from the property and rehome them to a rescue. We started a GoFund me to raise the money to pay for the animals and some of the medical care they needed immediately. What we didn’t know was that there were no rescues with availability to keep them. So we now had 9 goats (one of which was pregnant so we ended up with 11 goats), 2 ponies, 1 horse and 1 donkey.
We loaded up every single animal on that property and brought them home. That rescue mission changed everything and we immediately fell in love with all of the souls that we could tell needed us, and thus Alma Bonita was officially born.
As soon as we became an official 501c3 we started to get calls and emails from all around the area. It didn’t take long for the numbers to climb to nearly 90 animals from pigs, donkeys, chickens, turkeys, ducks, a mini mule, a bunny, ponies and sheep to horses and cows.
Because my background is in education, I didn’t just stop at giving these animals a safe place to live. We’ve turned the rescue into a place where kids and families can visit, learn about what it really takes to care for animals, learn about empathy, compassion and experience the kind of unconditional love and healing that only a rescue animal can give.
The Alma Bonita Animal Rescue (ABAR), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal sanctuary
Our Vision is to inspire connection, love, and compassion.
Our Mission is to educate hearts and minds to support the growth of a healthy community.
Our Core Commitments & Focus
The sanctuary achieves its mission through three distinct pillars:
B – Brightening: Uplifting the lives of rescued animals and the community through unconditional love, compassion, and empathy.
A – Alert: Remaining highly attentive to identifying the unique physical, emotional, and behavioral needs of every rescued animal to provide individualized, tailored solutions.
R – Responsiveness: Actively responding to the community by utilizing the farm and its animals for educational and therapeutic purposes—teaching animal ownership responsibility, social-emotional learning, and leadership.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Rescuing animals is full of joyous and heartbreaking moments. Many of our rescues come to us older or with medical conditions. Loosing an animal is one of the hardest things we have to deal with. Another challenge we had was that we shifted our resources of time and money to the animals, so our dream of building a house did not come to fruition. We have moved to another location that is much better for the animals. Finding dedicated volunteers can sometimes be a challenge. Money is always an area of concern because it costs a lot to feed these guys!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a principal in an elementary school and the facilitator of Leadership Morgan Hill. I am known for always rooting for the underdog. My advocacy in education came from supporting my own three son’s through challenging educational experiences due to their dyslexia and ADD. After all three of my son’s were diagnosed, the person that did their assessment explained to me that it was probably hereditary. You know they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! When I reflected back on my own educational experiences, it really helped me understand I wasn’t stupid, I was just never properly diagnosed.
Once I understood that my neurodiversity was also my superpower, I went back to school and finished my bachelors degree, got my teaching credential and a masters degree, went back 5 years later to get another masters degree and my administration credential to become a principal, and then ultimately my doctorate degree.
I believe my empathy is what prepared me to support the most vulnerable children in the schools I lead and with the animals at the rescue. Additionally, I believe the best leaders are those that build the strongest relationships and connections. This is also a characteristic I utilize with my students, teachers, staff AND the animals.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
If you are passionate about something be curious and find the right people to ask your questions. When I started the rescue, people didn’t take me seriously. I could see that they thought this city girl would play with animals for awhile and then give up when it got hard. But I didn’t, I stuck it out and eventually they could see I was serious. So over time people started to be very helpful and would answer questions or point me in the right direction. Be persistent, but also be willing so support others with gifts you might have to share with them.
I also joined the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. I made a lot of connections because I attended many of the meetings and other social events.
Pricing:
- 100% Donation Based
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.almabonitaanimalrescue.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/almabonitalife
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/almabonitalife
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNir7_Oq_fWREmgR1fyvjjQ
