Rescue And Sanctuary for Threatened Animals

Vegan Animal Sanctuary in British Columbia

Our Mission

Rescue And Sanctuary for Threatened Animals (RASTA), provides a forever home to rescued farm animals and strives to promote a more compassionate world through education and advocacy.

As a voice for farm animals, Lucie, RASTA’s founder provides educational and interactive tours to the public during the summer months, from June to October.  Visits to the Sanctuary are aimed at educating visitors about the modernized agricultural farming industry and its impact on the animals and our earth, as well as human health.  After a brief presentation about factory farming visitors are able to interact one-on-one with the many rescued animals both farm and domestic.

Not a Petting Zoo

As RASTA prides itself in being a Sanctuary, not a zoo, where animals are looked after rather than looked at, visits are limited in size, as well as frequency.  All visits to the Sanctuary are strictly by appointment only and it normally takes at least a week or so to schedule a tour.

No Hand Feeding

While donations of food for the animals are welcomed and greatly appreciated, for the safety of our visitors and the animals alike hand-feeding is strictly prohibited.

What to Wear

The tours are all exclusively outdoors and visitors are encouraged to dress appropriately for the weather.  Sturdy, closed-toe footwear is required as well as clothing that you don’t mind getting dirty as some of the animals like to get up close and personal.  If it’s raining there’s a chance that it could be muddy so rubber boots are suggested.

Children

While children are welcome to visit the Sanctuary, they must be well mannered and under control at all times as well as able to quietly pay attention to a brief (10-15 min) educational presentation in a non disruptive manner.  Out of respect to the animals, no running, chasing or yelling is permitted.  While most of the animals are very friendly, not all of them enjoy being petted and it’s up to them whether or not they wish to socialize.  For safety reasons, we require a ratio of one guardian for every three children and strollers are not permitted as they scare the animals.  If children are very young they may need to be carried when around the larger animals.

Dogs

For your dog’s safety as well as that of our animals we kindly ask that you please leave them at home.

Booking & Cost

Visits to the Sanctuary are limited and strictly by appointment only.  Due to the current workload, Lucie, RASTA’s founder is able to offer tours once a week on Saturday afternoons at 3pm.  The tours are by donation with a suggested minimum donation of $20 per person and are about two hours in length.  If you would like to donate more, RASTA is a registered charity and can issue you a tax deductible receipt for donations over and above the $20 value of your tour.

To become a monthly donor, click HERE 

To make a one-time donation, click HERE

To become a sponsor, click HERE or visit any of the profiles on our RESCUES page and select the “Become a Sponsor” button.

To Donate Securities or Mutual Funds, click HERE

Address

The Sanctuary is located on Vancouver Island at 9233 Chemainus Road in Chemainus, B.C.

Parking

Upon entering our gravel driveway at 9233 Chemainus Road (look for blue address numbers next to driveway) the parking area is located immediately to your left (north) along the fence facing our neighbor’s house.  Please do not park in the driveway or in front of gates as this blocks access for others.

Washrooms

We have a rented porta-potti on site for visitor use.

Tardiness

The Sanctuary is a very busy place and we kindly ask that visitors arrive on time.  If you are more than 15 minutes late you will need to reschedule for another time.  Alternatively, if you arrive early you’ll be asked to wait patiently in our shaded parking area until your scheduled tour time.

To book a summer tour, please provide your name, phone number, the number of people in your party and whether you wish to visit on a Thursday evening at 6pm or Saturday afternoon at 3pm.