Who We Are
All About Rooterville Animal Sanctuary
Rooterville is a small farm animal sanctuary founded over 20 years ago with lots of happy animals who can't wait to meet you!. Run by a disabled widow, Elaine West, 3 part time helpers and a few amazing volunteers, Rooterville is a joyful, peaceful place full of love and happiness that we enjoy sharing with you! It is our pleasure to watch our visitors reaction as they interact with our amazing animals!
The rescued animals at Rooterville have always come first during the past 20 years. ALL donations have been used to give them the care they need to live their best lives. The animals' needs are always our priority and they truly enjoy interacting with visitors.
For the past 2 decades, we've provided amazing and educational guest experiences with our awesome animals, making Rooterville a community favorite. This mission will continue as we deliver memorable experiences for our visitors, friends, volunteers and supporters while providing the BEST care for the amazing, friendly and happy critters you'll meet at Rooterville.
Thank you to each of you who have played a part and made a difference for our incredible animals!
Elaine West, Founder & Lifelong Animal Advocate
Our Story
Rooterville Animal Sanctuary is located in Melrose, FL which is a rural area right between Jacksonville and Gainesville, FL making it a great location for visitors from all over the state! For the past two decades, Rooterville has provided a safe and compassionate refuge to rescued farm animals, providing them with the best care possible. These precious farm animals are just like us in that everyone is an individual who deserves to be treated with respect and kindness. We provide them all with a healthy diet and comfy home filled with love and the best possible care.
Our residents, which we kindly refer to as ambassadors, are the lucky ones who have come here from all sorts of situations but primarily as the result of abuse, abandonment, and neglect. They include pot-bellied pigs, farm pigs, cows, a goat, turkeys, mini-horses, chickens, peacocks and a few dogs and many cats. Rooterville Animal Sanctuary currently provides a beautiful, peaceful and loving home to over one hundred animals.
Animals live their best lives here at Rooterville and when their health declines, they are humanely euthanized. Sadly our animal friends do not live forever and saying goodbye is the second hardest part about having so many animals, the first hardest part being that we cannot save them all. The last thing you will see at Rooterville is an animal suffering or struggling to make it through another day, we just do not believe that is kind or reasonable to let an animal suffer, especially with so many needing help being turned away every day.
In 2015 tragedy struck when Elaine's husband suddenly passed away. It was a defining moment, it would have been easier to quit but despite health issues, Elaine stayed the course and made Rooterville into what you will see today-- A vibrant, joyful, peaceful place where kindness, care for others and the environment as well as generosity are lived out and shared. Kind folks are GOOD folks!
Our memorable experiences and stays
help us care for the awesome animals you'll meet at Rooterville, animals no one else would help. Our
feed cost is almost
$100 per day and our wonderful
staff members appreciate being paid for their contribution too! Caring for this many animals is expensive. By visiting, booking an experience or stay or shopping with us, you
help us keep our gates open so that visitors can have an
amazing experience
with our
awesome animal friends
and learn about the benefits of
making kind choices. Together, we are making this world a better place for ALL of us. With heartfelt appreciation, we all say "Thank you!"
Everything changed for Rooterville when Stella was accepted into our herd. Stella was a breeding sow who lived her life in a "gestation crate", a cage not much bigger than her body. She fell from a transport truck on the way to slaughter. No one would help Stella but Rooterville.
Stella taught us what gentle, affectionate, intelligent and appreciative animals pigs could be. After suffering nothing but misery and abuse her entire life, Stella was the most gentle soul who loved life to the fullest, running where ever she needed to go and getting along with everyone. She was such a treasure and she changed our lives and inspired Rooterville to become what it is and has been for over 20 years now. Thanks to Stella, many animals have been spared the life of misery that she endured.
God gave us a miraculous, self-healing body that will do its work when we give it the nutrition that it needs. Falling apart as we age is not natural, it is in great part the result of what we put in our mouths. If we go back to the Bible to Genesis 1:29, we'll discover the diet our bodies were designed to function optimally on. Eating close to nature rewards us with good health and puts life in our years.
That's the gift Dale and Elaine long to give to everyone: a healthy, long life full of joy and the peace that comes from knowing where you'll spend eternity as life is not over when we leave this earth. Learn more from one of our favorite, most inspiring pastor here: https://www.lakewoodchurch.com/watch-online
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