Westside VW Foreman’s Animal Sanctuary

Steve Davis, a shop foreman at Westside Volkswagen, owns and runs an animal sanctuary called RK Acres Sanctuary with his wife in Hallandale, Minnesota, 90 miles south of the Twin Cities. Davis started with Volkswagen in 2007.   

How they started their sanctuary is an interesting story. “Somebody our neighbors knew asked their kid if they would take a goat off their hands. The kid brought this live goat home and his dad immediately said no,” Davis said. “So, he came to me and asked if I wanted this goat. I said yes and Henry became our first resident.”

Every other animal that has come to the Sanctuary has a similar story. Their two goats used to be pets and eventually the owners didn’t want them anymore, so the Davis’ took them in too.

Oatie, their pig, was believed to be on her way from a weaning facility to a pig farm, because she was found on the side of the road. The people that found her looked up animal sanctuaries and found PK Acres Sanctuary.   

“Oatie got her name because her jaw was broken and we had to feed her oatmeal for two months and so that’s when we just started calling her oatmeal,” Davis said. 

Finally, all their horses come from kill pen auctions. There’s a group within the auction that tries to help find new homes for them. “Typically, we can try to make it a policy not to buy animals, but we have. There’s Facebook groups that want to donate. They’ll say, ‘I want to save a horse, but I live in the city.’ It’s almost like an adoption where people will give the money and we will take care of the horse,” Davis said. 

Overall, they have seven horses, three goats, a pig and a bunch of chickens, ducks and dogs. They rescue dogs for Heading Home K9 Rescue, which they own as well. They hosted an event at Westside earlier this year. Nine puppies were up for adoption, and all had a home within the first hour of the two hour event.

“These animals are cute in this environment, but there’s millions more that are looked at as dollar signs and treated as such. The majority of are animals are in res

cue for a reason,” Davis added. “Our goal is to help the helpless but also educate people on how to do better.”

As for future plans for RK Acres Sanctuary, Davis and Tasha have talked about having classes out on field trips where they can learn where their food comes from and interact with the animals.

Davis concluded with “it’s a fun, fulfilling life!”