SURREY HILLS SANCTUARY AT A GLANCE

Saving lives. Caring for people and animals together.

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Surrey Hills Sanctuary (SHS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit micro-farm sanctuary and education center located in New York’s Hudson Valley. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Katherine Compitus, a clinical social worker and expert in applied anthrozoology—the study of human–animal relationships—SHS brings together lifelong animal sanctuary care, veterinary social work, and education.

Our mission is to save human and animal lives by responding to crisis with compassionate care, refuge, and connection. We recognize that people and animals share deeply interconnected lives and that both deserve safety, support, and care when they have nowhere else to turn.

 

One Health, One Welfare: A Shared Foundation

Our work is guided by the complementary frameworks of One Health and One Welfare. At their heart is interconnection: the understanding that the health and well-being of people, animals, and the environments we share cannot be considered in isolation.

 

One Health recognizes that the health of people, animals, plants, and ecosystems is closely linked. It encourages collaboration across professions and communities to protect and improve health, rather than treating human, animal, and environmental health as separate concerns.

One Welfare complements this approach by emphasizing the connections among animal welfare, human well-being, and the environment. It brings attention to how experiences such as suffering, safety, caregiving, and quality of life are connected across species—and why responding to one often requires understanding the others.

At SHS, these frameworks help explain why sanctuary care, support for people, and education belong together. An animal’s illness can profoundly affect a caregiver’s emotional health. A person in crisis may need help caring for an animal. Veterinary professionals and rescuers may carry the emotional weight of repeated exposure to suffering and loss. We respond with care that recognizes these relationships while honoring the inherent worth of every person and animal. Our educational work also encourages awareness of the shared environments that sustain us all.

 

Lifelong Sanctuary for Animals

 

SHS provides a permanent home for senior animals and those with special medical needs who might otherwise face euthanasia or have few options for ongoing care. We are not an open-intake rescue organization or animal shelter; animals come to us through referrals from veterinarians, shelters, and wildlife rehabilitators.

Our residents receive individualized care, attention, and enrichment that support their comfort and quality of life throughout their remaining years. They are permanent members of our sanctuary community and are not available for adoption. Their lives matter in their own right—not because of what they can offer people, but because they deserve safety, dignity, and compassionate care.

 

Compassionate Support for People

Our veterinary social work services support people through grief, crisis, and the emotional demands of caring for animals. We work with veterinary professionals, animal rescuers, shelter and sanctuary staff, volunteers, and caregivers facing compassion fatigue, burnout, isolation, or emotional distress.

When someone is experiencing thoughts of suicide or needs additional care, we help connect them with appropriate mental health services, suicide prevention resources, and other essential support. Their well-being matters—not only because animals depend on them, but because their lives matter in their own right.

This is One Welfare in practice: recognizing the connections between human and animal suffering without treating either as less important.

 

Education That Connects Compassion With Action

 

Education connects every part of our work. Through our programs and resources, we deepen understanding of the human–animal bond, explain the One Health and One Welfare frameworks, and explore how human well-being, animal welfare, and our shared environment shape one another.

SHS is a place to learn about these relationships and put compassion into practice—through responsible caregiving, support for those in distress, and greater consideration for the lives and environments connected to our own.

 

Visits, Referrals, and Donations

Visits to SHS are available by appointment only. Educational resources are available on our website.

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Surrey Hills Sanctuary does not accept animals from the public. If you have an animal who needs a new home, please contact your local animal rescue organization.

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Donations support our sanctuary, veterinary social work, and educational mission and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.​