Located two hours north of New York City, CAS provides a safe and loving haven for abused horses and farm animals – animals who have never known warm shelter, spacious pastures, good food, or the touch of a kind hand. Since 2001, CAS has provided refuge for over 1,700 such animals, and served as a center to raise awareness of their mistreatment and its impact on all of us.

In short, the mission of CAS is:

• to provide a safe haven for abused, abandoned, and neglected horses and farm animals
• to heighten public awareness of the treatment of these animals and its impact on humans, animals, and the planet we share through innovative on and off-site programming
• to serve as an educational resource to schools and youth organizations by providing innovative on-site and school-based programming

Our History

Catskill Animal Sanctuary opened in January of 2001, the culmination of many months’ research, travel, and internships at successful farm sanctuaries by founders Kathy Stevens and Jesse Moore. Our mission: to provide a safe and loving home for abused and abandoned horses and farm animals, and to raise public awareness of agribusiness and its impact on all of us.

Dino, the survivor of a Brooklyn arson that killed 23 horses, was our first resident on a property whose use was donated by an avid animal lover. Nine years later, CAS has provided a safe haven for 1,700 desperately needy farm animals and has found loving homes for 3/4 of those creatures.

In addition to direct “animal aid,” CAS offers a wide variety of workshops and school programs designed to help school children with little exposure to farm animals experience them as the unique individuals they truly are. Other programs raise awareness of the institutionalized suffering of our food animals on factory farms, and of the environmental havoc wrought by agribusiness. Director Kathy Stevens visits over 50 schools, colleges, and community organizations annually, and students from dozens of regional schools spend a memorable day here each spring.

We moved to our permanent home in the winter of 2003, and from 2003 to 2009, transformed a derelict abandoned property into an 80-acre haven comprised of a 20-stall main barn, six smaller barns, two houses, (including a pre-Revolutionary War era home that will be converted to space for out of town guests), 22 spacious pastures, paddocks and pens, 22 shelters, a large pond that attracts visiting wildlife, and a “Welcome Hut” that welcomes guests each weekend of our visiting season. In early 2010, CAS completed its conversion to solar energy, and may be the only sanctuary in the country to be 100% solar-powered.

Our director’s first book, Where the Blind Horse Sings: Love and Healing at an Animal Sanctuary, was released in the Summer of 2007 to wide acclaim. It was released in paperback in August 2009. Kathy’s second book, Animal Camp, will be released in winter 2010 by Skyhorse Publishing.

CAS has a staff of 7 full-time and 4 part-time employees. Over 100 active volunteers assist with everything from animal care, shelter cleaning, landscaping, to event planning. Our four-member board of directors assists with policy, financial management, and fundraising.