WINDHAM, Conn. — The owners of an animal rescue and sanctuary in Windham must relocate after the rental property their business runs out of was sold during the pandemic.
Kaitlyn Judd and her husband, Ed, have been running Roadside Ranch Rescue and Sanctuary out of the property for the last couple of years, and it has what they need: a barn to house the animals and enough space for horses. But now that the property has been sold, they’re looking for a new home and hoping someone will be able to help them stay here in Connecticut.
Kaitlyn and Ed have run the rescue for more than five years and helped more than 600 animals find homes.
“This is our passion. Our whole life. Everything that we do,” she said.
In addition to the rescue, they also run a sanctuary to give older or unwanted animals a forever home.
But now, the rescue and family of five need to re-locate from the property they’re renting in Windham. Kaitlyn said the owner was forced to sell due to the pandemic.
“It went on the market and it sold,” she said. “Shortly after that, within a few days, we were told that we would need to leave.”
Over the last year, the family has had to re-home dozens of animals and pack up their house. Now, they’re running out of options for finding a home of their own.
“Any property we look at has five, 10, 20, 30 people that have applied and we’ve just been denied over and over again,” Kaitlyn said. “Our goal is just finding somewhere to work with us to be able to keep doing what we’re doing.”
They’re looking for a rental property in Connecticut where they can live and house the animals in their sanctuary, so they don’t have to relocate out of state.
“To be able to have a safe place for our kids and the animals and our jobs, it would just be great. That’s everyone’s goal is to just do what’s best for their family, I think,” Kaitlyn said.
A GoFundMe has been created for the family. Click here for more details.
Elisha Machado is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at emachado@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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