Idaho's largest farm sanctuary faces financial loss due to permitting setbacks
KUNA, Idaho (CBS2 News) — Idaho has a wide variety of rescues for dogs and cats, but when it comes to unwanted livestock, options are limited. Once their owners no longer wish to care for them, the vast majority of these animals are slaughtered. Dominique Delobbe says one of her first experiences with this harsh reality was meeting a 30-year-old retired police horse named Winken.
"Nobody wanted him, and he was supposed to be slaughtered. I adopted him and he was the best horse I ever had," said Dominique Delobbe, founder of Dominifarm Animal Sanctuary. "He lived 12 happy years after I adopted him in 2005. He was the inspiration behind the establishment of Dominifarm to provide a forever-loving home to discarded retired animals."
Every species of animal at Dominifarm Animal Sanctuary has one thing in common: they owe their life to Delobbe. From horses to pigs, to geese, to emus, Delobbe has made it her purpose in life to save as many rejected animals as she can. A large part of breaking the cycle of abandonment is educating people before they purchase livestock.
"After COVID, a lot of people contacted us wanting to surrender their animals. They adopted farm animals to be self-sufficient, to have eggs, to have milk, cheese, and then they went back to work and didn't want them anymore," said Delobbe. "They contacted me personally and said, 'Could you take my goat? Could you take my chicken?' I needed to create a nonprofit to be able to provide for all these animals and have volunteers to help me take care of them."
Delobbe, an esthetician by trade, says she does not take any salary and pays for her bills out of pocket. Part of how she was able to finance care for the 100+ animals on her Kuna farm was by giving community tours, but a recent permitting issue has forced her to close to the public.
"We had educational tours we had to stop. We had reading with the animals, we had children with disabilities who came, and they cannot come anymore because we are not allowed to have visitors right now," said Delobbe. "It affected us because the visitors paid us a little fee, and the proceeds went directly to feed the animals."
Delobbe said complications arose when she applied for a permit to build a horse barn, hoping to keep her animals warmer in the winter.
"Following our submission of a building permit application for a horse barn last August, we were informed by the Ada County Zoning department that obtaining a permit was necessary for our organization to achieve compliance with zoning regulations," said Delobbe. "The permit application process proved to be highly complex, onerous, and labor-intensive. We are deeply grateful to everyone who supported our efforts, particularly Erik Hagen from Hagen Architecture in Boise, who generously provided pro bono services, submitting the applications and designing the master plan. Our hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11th at 6:00 pm and is open to the public."
There is currently no existing classification on the Ada County zoning list for a farm animal sanctuary like Dominifarm. Delobbe says she is hopeful she'll be able to obtain the variance for the horse barn as well as the Conditional Use Permit, which would enable Dominifarm to resume Sunday morning tours on a limited basis and by appointment only.
"To open to the public again, there would be conditions of approval, including the construction of a 13-spot parking lot," said Delobbe. "To accommodate visitors on our premises, the Ada County zoning department suggested that we apply for an Amusement or Recreation Facility, Outdoor Conditional Use Permit (C.U.P.). Additionally, to construct the barn, we were required to apply for a variance to exceed the current lot coverage requirements."
Running Idaho's largest farm sanctuary is not cheap. Delobbe says even just the hay for some of her animals costs upwards of 20K a year. With the loss of income from these permitting delays, Dominifarm needs help now more than ever.
Click here to donate to Dominifarm!
Money donated to Dominifarm helps animals like Odie, the mute piglet, Ray, the blind baby goat, and Ruby, the elderly emu.
"Ruby the emu had spent 20 years locked by herself in a dog kennel before she was rescued by a woman in Idaho City who couldn’t keep her. Our volunteer Ray assisted with the transportation, and after a month of quarantine, Ruby was set free on the sanctuary and enjoyed freedom and making an emu friend for the first time in her life," said Delobbe. "I say that we are like an assisted living community for older animals. I don't have any children, and to me, they're my babies."
Although Delobbe is not currently able to offer tours, she is still educating the public about the value of discarded animals. Hoping to instill compassion in the next generation, Delobbe has been driving to schools around the Treasure Valley once a month to teach about the hard work and care that goes into her "babies," as she calls them. In her current situation, Delobbe is only able to bring animals small enough to fit in her car, but says she hopes to be able to get enough funding for a trailer to bring bigger animals to the children as well.
"Oh, the kids love it. They think it's just so unique that she has a farm with animals that just need that little bit of extra help," said Kristen Falconer, a first-grade teacher at Cole Valley Christian. "Our first graders work really hard every year to host their own farmers market. This year, we made 18 different handmade products and sold them, and part of our donations go to Dominifarm."
Delobbe expressed her gratitude to the students at Cole Valley Christian, who gave her approximately $1,200 worth of supplies for her animals.
"It's incredible to have the support of the community, but the support of the children of this community, that's unique, and that's the biggest gift we could ask for," said Delobbe.
Dominifarm currently takes care of about 130 unwanted animals. Delobbe says while she wishes she could say yes to the weekly surrender requests she gets, unfortunately she is at max capacity.
"We have seven horses, well equines, because we have a donkey, two mules, horses, mini horses, ponies," said Delobbe. "We have 10 goats, 10 sheep, two turkeys, about 20 ducks, 15 chickens, 20 bunnies, we have two emus, 10 pigs."
Delobbe says one of her largest demands is pigs, so she'd like to remind anyone in the market that there is no such thing as a "mini pig," "micro pig" or "teacup pig."
"They don't exist, that's a myth. That's a 'mini pig,' she's 130 pounds," said Delobbe, pointing to a large swine. "And that's a baby, he's going to grow for five years. So a lot of time you buy a pig and they say, 'Here are the parents, they are tiny' but that's because they are still babies. Pigs grow for five years."
Sadly, Delobbe says she has to say no to the frequent requests she gets to save more pigs, but would happily take more if someone was able to provide her with additional land.
"The only way we could expand is if we had a land donation. So if someone hears that and wants to donate land to us, then we could expand!" said Delobbe.
Until then, Delobbe hopes to get the proper permitting and to be able to reopen to the community that has given her so much.
"We are so thankful for your support because we wouldn't be there without you," said Delobbe. "You've always been there with us, and you are the reason I love Idaho so much."
