Sammamish Animal Sanctuary

10/13/2026

SAS IS GETTING SPOOKY! 👻

Our Annual Halloween Spooktacular and Funnnnnn-draiser is creeping up, and the BarnYard Crew is ready for a little HOCUS POCUS (and a LOT of treats).

Join us for an evening of costumes, candy, and some seriously adorable trick-or-treaters. Yes, some of our animals are getting dressed up too.-and no, we can't promise they'll stay in their costumes. 🤣

🧡 Friday, October 30 | 4–7 PM

🍬 4–6 PM: Trick-or-treat with the animals!

🎃 6 PM: Costume parade featuring our BarnYard Crew, followed by a costume contest with fun prizes!

PLUS: games, treats, crafts and Halloween fun in the arena!

🎟️ $15 per child — includes a treat bucket and decorate-your-own- trick-or-treat bag! $20 at the door.

Costumes encouraged. Farm-appropriate footwear strongly recommended. The goats have absolutely no respect for your nice shoes.

Don't ghost us! 👻 Grab your tickets and come make some memories while supporting the animals who call Sammamish Animal Sanctuary home.

www.sammamishanimalsanctuary.org/events

10/10/2026

Sometimes, the best therapy has four legs. (Or two. Or three. We're not picky.)

Today is World Mental Health Day, and we want to talk about something that doesn't always get enough attention: the incredible and tangible impact animals can have on our mental well-being.

There's something pretty magical and healing about SAS, and our BarnYard Crew.

Maybe it's the fresh air. The sound of happy rescued goats. Our chickens going about their very important chicken business. Or the fact that a 1,000-pound cow doesn't care about your deadlines, current politics, or how bad traffic was on I-405 (spoiler:it's always bad).

At Sammamish Animal Sanctuary, we spend our days giving animals a safe place to land. And somewhere along the way, we've discovered that they do the same for us.

For our dedicated volunteers, our visitors, and our community, this place is more than a sanctuary for animals-it's a sanctuary for people, too.

So here is your reminder: It's totally okay to slow down. It's okay to have hard days. And it's okay to need a little (or a lot) of extra love.

You matter. Your mental health matters. And sometimes, just sitting with a goat for a while is a pretty good place to start. 💫

So, happy World Mental Health Day from all of us (two-legged, three-legged, and four-legged) at Sammamish Animal Sanctuary.

10/09/2026

It's Spooky Season at SAS, and we're here for it!

The farm is dressed for Halloween, the animals are completely unbothered, and we can't wait to see you! Rain or shine, we're OPEN! (A little PNW drizzle just adds to the spooky atmosphere.)

And we've got TWO spooktacular events coming up:

🎃 Halloween Spooktacular | October 30 | 4-7pm — Trick-or-treating with the animals, games, costumes, and barnyard fun!

🧘‍♀️ Halloween Goat Yoga | October 31 | 9:30-11am — Come in costume, stretch with the goats, and compete for best dressed!

Grab your rain boots, bring your favorite people, and come get spooky with us!

🔗 Reservations & event details at www.sammamishanimalsanctuary.org

10/08/2026

You asked for it- so here you go!

SPOOOOOKY GOAT YOGA!

Grab your Ghoul-Friends and start Halloween off right! Move your BOOOO-TY and sneak in some zen time with our rescued goats (ok, it's more GOAT than exersize, but you totally earned that candy you'll eat later...).

Deets:
When: October 31st from 9:30-11am
Where: Our covered arena (rain or shiiiiiine!)

⭐Dress to impress- Costumes Encouraged! We will end the session with a "Best Dressed" Contest and prizes! ⭐

Where do you sign up?!
Get your tickets here:
sammamishanimalsanctuary.org/goat-yoga

Remember: All proceeds go directly to our Barnyard Crew! We hope to see you for this special Spoooky Edition of Goat Yoga! 💕

10/06/2026

Meet Amelia, our October Animal of the Month!

Local celebrity. Professional cow cuddler. TV star. Childrens book muse.

Personal assistants? Dahlia & Camelia, obviously.
Mysterious older gentleman recently moved in?
Rico. It’s complicated.
20/20 vision? Absolutely not.

Before the fame, Amelia came to Sammamish Animal Sanctuary as a tiny calf after being rejected by her mother. She was found alone in a pasture with a severe infection throughout her body, and it took around-the-clock care from Diane and an entire entourage of dedicated volunteers to save her life.

Amelia healed, but the damage left her lame and blind. What she needed was a little extra help navigating the world. Somehow, two goats decided that was their job. Dahlia and Camelia became Amelia’s “seeing-eye goats,” creating one of the sweetest and most unlikely little families at the Sanctuary.

This year, we said goodbye to her beloved Dahlia. Camelia is still faithfully by her side, and now 16-year-old Rico is slowly finding his place in Amelia’s pasture and apparently, her entourage.

Amelia may be the celebrity, but she’s never done life alone. And really, none of our animals do. That’s what Animal of the Month is about.

Your donation to Amelia’s AOTM campaign helps provide the top notch veterinary care, medications, specialized equipment, food, shelter, and lifelong care that Amelia- and every animal who calls SAS home critically depends on.

Because Amelia has always needed a herd.

So do we. 💕

Join Amelia’s Herd and help us continue giving animals like her exactly what they deserve: a safe place to land, a family of their own, and a home for life.

You can donate through the link in our bio or here: sammamishanimalsanctuary.org/sponsor-an-animal

10/05/2026

👻 HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR AT THE SANCTUARY! 👻

Grab your favorite costumes, bring your tiny goblins, and come trick-or-treat with the BarnYard Crew!

Join us October 30th (one night only this year!!) from 4:00–7:00 PM for a Halloween evening at Sammamish Animal Sanctuary-complete with our rescued animals, treats, games, and what we can only assume will be at least one goat making questionable life choices.

🎃4:00–6:00 PM: Trick-or-Treat with the animals
🎃 Treats + games+ face painting in the arena
🎃6:00 PM: Costume Parade featuring some very special members of our BarnYard Crew
🎃6:30: Costume Contest
🎃Every child gets a treat bucket AND trick-or-treat bag!

Tickets are $15 for ages 2–14 in advance (adults enter with appreciated donation of their choice!)
$20 at the door

The best part? Your Halloween fun helps support the animals who call Sammamish Animal Sanctuary home. ❤️

Costumes encouraged. Animal costumes inevitable. Dignity not guaranteed.

🎃 October 30 | 4–7 PM
📍 Sammamish Animal Sanctuary
16515 SE May Valley Road, Renton

Sammamishanimalsanctuary.org/events

10/03/2026

ONE WEEK OF RICO (Formerly Roca). ❤️

Our old man has officially spent his first full week out in the pasture with Amelia and Camelia, and while we’re still very much in the “everybody is figuring everybody out” phase, there is a lot to celebrate.

First: Rico is EATING. 🙌

Dr. Elizabeth came out to give him a good once-over, trim those very overdue hooves, get him vaccinated, and help us figure out how to make his golden years a little more comfortable. Unsurprisingly for a gentleman of his vintage, he has some pretty advanced arthritis, so he’s now on pain medication — and it’s helping.

Let’s just say… if Rico wore pants, he would 100% throw his back out trying to put them on. 😂

But one of the best parts of this first week hasn’t actually been about us.

It’s been the revolving door of neighbors coming to see him.

For years, while Rico was living alone, there was an entire little community quietly looking out for him — bringing him food, checking on him, making sure he had water, and making sure somebody was paying attention.

Several of those neighbors have already come to visit him here, and we love seeing the recognition on his face when he sees them! Especially his 89-year-old friend who helped care for him for years and was ultimately the biggest advocate in getting Rico help.

And you guys… the friendship between those two. 🥹

Rico knows him. He trusts him. And watching them together makes it very clear that while Rico may have technically been living alone, he was never completely without people who loved him.

Now comes the next chapter.

He’s getting more comfortable with Amelia and Camelia every day, but we also know this will take time. Turns out it’s pretty hard to explain to an old goat who has spent roughly seven years by himself that other goats, and one very large cow- are actually safe.

So we’re letting them move at Rico speed.

He’s eating. He’s more comfortable. His pain is being managed. His old friends are still showing up.

And little by little, he’s learning that he has new ones here too. ❤️

10/02/2026

🍂 OCTOBER VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH: ZOEY LITTLE! 🍂

This month we’re celebrating someone who has basically grown up right alongside us at the Sanctuary — Zoey Little!

Zoey started volunteering four years ago, alongside her grandmother. Since then, she has become one of those volunteers where our answer to pretty much everything is:

“Can Zoey do it?”
Birthday party? Zoey.
Summer camp? Zoey.
Youth Board? Zoey.
Random project we just invented 11 minutes ago? Also Zoey.

She spent her entire summer working as one of our camp counselors, she’s here nearly every weekend — rain, shine, mud, chaos, whatever — and she is truly down for just about anything we throw at her.

But one of our favorite things about Zoey is how genuinely curious she is. She wants to know why we do things, how things work, and what she can learn next. She asks great questions, has an excellent sense of humor (a requirement around here), and has grown into an incredibly capable, dependable young leader.
And apparently she needed something to do during the few hours she ISN’T at the Sanctuary, so she’s also part of her high school’s ROTC program. Because of course she is.

Her true allegiance, however, is to our mini ponies — and specifically Dapper and Dustin, who are very clearly her favorite. We assume the feeling is mutual, although the boys have declined to make an official statement.

Zoey, we have loved watching you grow from that shy little teen volunteering with Grandma into the confident, funny, hardworking young woman you are today. We are so lucky you continue to choose to spend so much of your time with us.
Congratulations, Zoey- you earned this!

And Dapper and Dustin say congratulations too.
Probably.
As long as you brought treats. 😅

09/27/2026

♥️♥️ What a wonderful article! Thanks so much for coming by!

Where near Seattle can you scratch a Highland cow's back for free and meet rescued goats, alpacas, and pigs who each have a name? This Washington sanctuary.