Whether they were rescued from a slaughterhouse, abandoned or abused, the animals at Santuario de Karuna and Roots Animal Sanctuary have grown accustomed to the core values of these sanctuaries: compassion and love.
Santuario de Karuna, established in 2015, and Roots Animal Sanctuary, established in 2022, are nonprofits in Tijeras that offer a forever home to pigs, dogs, turkeys, donkeys and other animals. While the sanctuaries are separate entities, Tamara Hubbard, founder of Santuario de Karuna, and Kelli Quattrone, founder of Roots Animal Sanctuary, work closely together to care for the animals.
Santuario de Karuna
Growing up, Hubbard’s parents owned a barbeque restaurant in South Florida. Despite that, Hubbard is a committed animal activist and vegan. She said when people get controversial or defensive over veganism, it shows her their actions don’t align with their values on the inside.
“When we see unjust in the world, there are two kinds of people,” she said. “Some people stand by and do nothing, and think that someone else is doing something and then some people move on it. There’s a saying ‘If not me, then who? If not now, then when?’ A lot of times people pass a dog on the road and won’t do anything because they think somebody else will, but if everybody does that, nobody does anything. I think when we’re faced with those types of situations, the universe has aligned with us and that’s our sign to take care of that.”
Hubbard said she always knew she wanted to open a sanctuary and said Santuario de Karuna in English translates to “sanctuary of compassion,” which was her goal with the sanctuary. Karuna is a word used in Hinduism and Buddhism that translates to “compassionate action,” a concept used to “diminish the suffering of others.”
“It is one thing to say ‘I love animals,’ but it is another thing to say ‘I love animals, I don’t eat animals, I volunteer at sanctuaries, I adopt, I don’t shop, I foster,’” Hubbard said. “The sanctuary really is about the action of being compassionate.”
Dogs, turkeys, cows, geese, hens, roosters, pigs, goats, donkeys and a cat and a llama— 47 critters in all — call Karuna home. While each animal has its designated space, the donkeys, Isabelle and Hondo, and the cows, Karuna and Ahimsa, like to patrol the colorful sanctuary. Along with a Buddha and donkey mural, the sanctuary’s fences are painted in bright colors, with wind chimes and Tibetan prayer flags hanging from the trees.
The sanctuary is always accepting donations or animal sponsorships. Hubbard said more than 85% of the animals at Karuna were rescued from slaughterhouses. This was the case for Karuna, the sanctuary’s first cow rescued from slaughter.
“Karuna is the catalyst for the sanctuary,” she said. “It’s a giant disconnect for people to go shop at the grocery store and just see this package, you don’t realize that that is part of someone. The whole sanctuary idea was to rescue animals that are primarily used for food and allow people to meet them as individuals rather than a commodity.”
Each month, the sanctuary has a volunteer day where approximately 25 volunteers help with chores like installing new fences or trimming pig hooves. Earlier this month, a group of foreign exchange students visited the sanctuary and repainted the fences. When there are no volunteers, Hubbard operates the sanctuary by herself.
To make the space more available for the public to connect with the animals, Hubbard gave up half of her house two years ago and added a bed and breakfast. Guests can stay and feed the five goats spaghetti noodles — which is their favorite snack — or visit the pigs in Barbara’s Barnyard, a space Hubbard dedicated to her friend Barbara, who owned a nonprofit in Albuquerque and worked strongly for animal rights. Hubbard prepares a vegan breakfast daily for the guests.
Each of the animals has a special name, especially pigs Moby and Jenny Sue. Moby was named after a 1980s punk rock musician and animal rights activist, and Jenny Sue was named after Hubbard’s friends Jenny and Susan, who sponsor Jenny Sue by sending her toys and peanuts.
“That’s the beautiful thing about sanctuaries is you really get to know these guys,” Hubbard said. “I know the minute there’s something wrong with anybody here, you get really dialed into it. Once they come through the gates here, they will live a full life here and pass away here.”
Roots Animal Sanctuary
Just a mile from Santuario de Karuna is Roots Animal Sanctuary. While Roots houses donkeys, dogs, hens, roosters and turkeys, their specialty is pigs.
“We have 27 pigs,” Quattrone said. “My mom would tell you ‘When Kelli was seven, she came up to me and looked me square in the face and said one day Mom, I’m going to have pot-bellied pigs.’ So it’s always been pigs, I had all the pig trinkets and books, it’s always been my thing.”
Quattrone has been in the animal rescue community for nine years but opened the sanctuary in 2022, which she operates with her husband, J.P., and son, Dashell. Along with managing the sanctuary, Quattrone and her husband also have full-time jobs. The Quattrone family practices veganism and animal activism and opened the sanctuary because they saw the horrible conditions these animals come from. The family brought them to Roots, where “the innocent come to grow.”
“I want people to be educated on what happens to them if you do not treat them correctly,” she said. “Pigs are very misunderstood. I want people to view them as sentient beings. We’re animal rights activists for every species. I want people to view them in a way that they view a human. They also want to live, they also want food and love. We all want the same thing. It’s just different when you’re on four legs and don’t know how to speak their language.”
Similar to Santuario de Karuna, people can sponsor an animal of their choice for $25 a month, which will buy a bag of feed or a bale of straw. They can also donate to a medical fund used for all animals. Quattrone said while it is a sanctuary, she will occasionally rehome an animal if it is in their best interest.
“If they are young and healthy, I want them in homes,” she said. “If somebody calls me and says, ‘Hey, I need to rehome my pig’ my first question is why? I will always try and help the animals stay in their home. I will put up fencing, I will pay for feed, and I will get them neutered because I want people to keep their pets. So I always tell people let’s work together. Our main thing, obviously, is nutrition and health and making sure they are sublimely happy.”
Saving memories
Both sanctuaries have upcoming projects to help those in the grieving process.
At Santuario de Karuna, Hubbard plans to work with her friend who is a muralist to make species-specific condolence cards. She said no store sells cards for those who lose their pet bird or pig, so the cards will encompass a wide variety of animal artwork and will feature St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.
Meanwhile, Roots Animal Sanctuary created a Bell Garden where “memories can flow.” This garden will serve as a remembrance garden with a bell wall, which will hold bells with the name of an animal who has died. People can purchase a memorial bell for a specific animal at the sanctuary for $30 that will hang in the bell garden, for an additional $5 they will receive their own bell and for another $5 they can add a charm.
“We’re going to plant some trees and rose bushes in here and have places to hang everybody’s bells,” Quattrone said.”We’ll create a nice calm seating area where people can come and relax. Each bell says ‘Made with love,’ that’s kind of our thing.”
This is amazing