“You can’t pick your family, but you can choose your tribe” answers Becki Streif, co-founder of Tribe Animal Sanctuary in Louisville, KY, when I ask how she and her husband, Greg, named their refuge.
The name is spot-on for the suburban sanctuary, which specializes in providing lifelong care to special needs animals few others would consider re-homing. There’s Billy (a pig), Abbott (ram), and their most infamous resident, Chase, a blind goat with his own seeing-eye sheep, Gideon. You’ll meet them all in a bit. As Becki points out, Tribe is truly “an Island of Misfit Toys.”
The sanctuary is located on ten acres less than 30 minutes from downtown Louisville, in a sprawling new development of modern stately homes. I have visited dozens of animal sanctuaries and my first impression upon pulling up to the property was one of wonder…as in wondering if I had the correct address. From the curb, looking at the 2XL house with circular driveway, I thought, “This is not your average farm sanctuary.” The only indication that I had landed in the right place was a small sign on an easel and the half-dozen or so cars parked behind the front gate.
