When Sheila Murphy set out to rescue three sick goats in 2019, she figured she would nurse them back to health and hand them off to a local farm animal rescue. There was just one problem: no such rescue existed in the area.
Seven years later, Murphy runs Alma Bonita Animal Rescue, a Morgan Hill sanctuary that is home to more than 80 animals. The rescue got its start when Murphy and her husband Michael took in those first three neglected goats from a woman who was struggling financially and needed to offload her animals.
When they arrived at the property, the goats were anemic, underweight, infested with lice and suffering from severely overgrown hooves, Murphy said. And the goats, it turned out, were not the only animals in dire condition.
“We realized she had all these other animals living in these horrific conditions,” Murphy said. “And that was our ignorance, thinking, ‘We’ll get the animals away from her, we’ll call other rescues in the area and then rehome them to the other rescues so they could live happily ever after.’”
The couple launched a GoFundMe campaign, raised enough money to purchase all of the woman’s animals and brought home a horse, a donkey, two ponies and nine goats—one of which was pregnant. They did all of this with the intention of rehoming the 11 animals to other local rescues.
“Only to figure out that there were no other farm animal rescues locally,” Murphy said.
So the Murphys rolled with the punch, applied for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and were approved a few months later, forming Alma Bonita Animal Rescue.
As the animal population grew at their original 40-acre property, so did a sprawl of improvised enclosures that Murphy compared to the Winchester Mystery House. The organization eventually relocated to its current Little Uvas Road property, where the couple was able to plan the layout from the ground up.
Murphy said the sanctuary does not rehome its animals despite their initial intentions, a policy born of an unfortunate legal reality she learned when consulting other rescues. Unlike dogs, cats and horses, farm animals have no legal protections, meaning a cow or goat adopted in supposedly good faith could be legally slaughtered by its new owner with no recourse for the rescue.
“We can’t guarantee what other people would do with them,” Murphy said. “We just couldn’t do that to the animals. The healthier they got, the more they trusted us, and the more we fell in love with them.”
That trust, Murphy said, is at the heart of what the sanctuary does. She described one horse that arrived showing clear signs of physical abuse, so fearful of humans that Murphy wasn’t sure she could be loaded into a trailer. As Murphy entered the enclosure alone, the horse lowered her head and walked toward her.
“It was almost as if she was saying, ‘I know you’re here to save me,’” Murphy said.
The horse eventually warmed to her caregivers over weeks and months, allowing grooming, medical treatment and hoof trims. Murphy said stories like hers are what she hopes visitors take away from their time at the sanctuary.
“The resilience that they show, if they’ve been abused or neglected, and then they come around and trust humans again,” Murphy said. “It’s not an automatic thing. It takes months, sometimes years. To me, it’s just such a great human message that the animals teach.”
Fundraiser this Saturday
To help raise funds for feed and medical costs, Alma Bonita will host its second annual Barnyard Bash from 5-9pm June 27, at 5970 Little Uvas Road in Morgan Hill. The family-friendly, Western-themed event features live music, dancing, games, a silent auction and a root beer bar alongside beer and wine for adults.
Tickets are available at almabonitaanimalrescue.org.
Murphy said the sanctuary relies heavily on a single anonymous donor whose contributions cover the bulk of costs. The funds arrive through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Murphy said she has never been able to identify the donor despite her efforts.
“We don’t have any way to find out,” who the donor is, Murphy said. “I would love to put their name on a barn or something, but I don’t know.”
Though she is grateful for the funding, calling it a “godsend” and “a blessing,” she worries that the mysterious source may one day suddenly dry up.
The Barnyard Bash is Murphy’s answer to an ongoing desire for greater financial independence. She hopes to raise $10,000 with this year’s event.
“Eventually we’d like to get closer to $50,000, but it’s still in its infancy as an event, so we’re setting realistic goals,” Murphy said. “And it will all go toward the care of the animals.”
The event will feature games and activities including safe axe throwing, hay bale roping, archery and cornhole, with live music provided by the band Lavender Fields. Guests are also invited to interact with the rescue’s animals. Murphy said she designed the event to fill what she sees as a gap in Morgan Hill’s social calendar.
“Morgan Hill has a lot of events, but they’re typically geared toward adults,” she said. “There’s nothing there for families.”
The silent auction will feature themed gift baskets, including wine, coffee and children’s baskets, as well as a “night out on the town” package with gift cards to local Morgan Hill restaurants. VIP experiences and sponsorship opportunities are also available; details can be found at almabonitaanimalrescue.org.
