The past few years have been a bumpy road for Lindsey Armstrong and her partner Rob Fenn. Their love for animals led them to acquire a five-acre animal sanctuary in Herriman, home to nearly 200 rescued farm animals, but it hasn’t been easy.

Armstrong worked as a volunteer at Herriman’s Ching Farm Rescue and Sanctuary that was founded by Faith and Mike Ching in 1998. When she heard the Chings were selling the ranch, Armstrong worried about what would happen to the animals she loved.

“It had always been a dream of mine to have some sort of animal sanctuary but when I started volunteering, I realized how stressful it was,” she said. “But my partner said ‘what if we can blend all the things that we do and love together?’”

In January 2021, the property purchase was complete. Armstrong and Fenn were the owners of the sanctuary, the animals and a ranch house they planned to make their home. They named it Clementine Ranch (14322 S. Majestic Oaks Lane) and started to transform the farm to include an organic greenhouse and a recording studio, since both work in the music industry. Fenn also plans to bring his barber/record shop onto the property.

It was a stressful situation, trying to learn how to run a sanctuary and stay afloat. There were times Armstrong wasn’t sure they were going to make it. They even lived in their RV for two years when the house on the property was condemned, torn down to the frame and rebuilt.

“It was a situation,” Armstrong said, “but we had taken over the ownership of the animals going into a hard winter. Once we realized the state of the house, we were like, ‘where else are we gonna buy property and put up shelter for 200 animals going into winter?’”

But now they’ve reached a point where they can see a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Since they took over operations, they haven’t been able to take in additional rescue animals, but Armstrong believes that they’ll be able to begin a regular volunteer program and eventually add more cows, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens to their sanctuary. 

They’re careful about who works with the animals and the people currently volunteering at Clementine Ranch have been trained to clean the animals’ living areas, keep them fed and watered and demonstrate compassion to all the rescues in their care.

“We want to get it up to our vision and standards before we start inviting everyone,” she said. “We’d like to be where people can pop in and bring their kids…volunteers are always needed.”

Armstrong is grateful for any donations or help offered to the ranch. Just purchasing hay for the animals costs $2,500 per month, plus there are medical expenses, food, daily supplements, grooming and more. 

The community is invited to donate at ClementineRanch.org and Armstrong hopes to organize fundraising events for the nonprofit in the near future. It all comes down to doing what’s best for the animals in her care and creating a stable environment for them to live in safety. 

“Sitting with animals and seeing how they interact with each other, what their nature is, how simple it is to be content and enjoy your loved ones, these are just some of the things the animals will show you after being with them for a few minutes,” Armstrong said. “These animals form deep bonds with one another and they know their names. They have best friends, they recognize when an animal passes away. These things are powerful. They’re so deserving of love and respect.” λ