Goatlandia team leads with compassion, kindness for all creatures

Years ago when Deborah Blum was a restaurateur in San Francisco, she came up to Sonoma County with her staff to visit a dairy farm where there were lots of goats. She found herself drawn to the intelligent, social creatures.

“I kind of fell in love with goats then,” she said with a chuckle.

Her interaction with goats changed the course of her life, along with an animal rights video she watched online that exposed how some animals are treated in the agricultural industry which included footage of slaughterhouses, separation of babies from mothers, and death to male animals who don’t produce milk on dairy farms.

“I very much feel that we need more compassion and kindness on the planet, and for me that circle of compassion extends to animals. So I pretty much went vegan overnight,” said Blum, a former commercial pilot and restaurateur.

In need of more space, Blum moved to Santa Rosa, where in 2017 she founded the Goatlandia Farm Animal Sanctuary and Education Center at a two-acre property on Olivet Lane. Her organization provides a loving home for goats and other orphaned, abused or neglected farm animals, including sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys and a horse.

“It’s an open and welcoming atmosphere,” said Petra L., a stay-at-home parent in Oakland, who reached out to Goatlandia after she bought a house that came with goats and didn’t know how to care for them.

“Deborah showed up straight away and taught me everything and stayed in contact. She was extremely helpful. She had no reason to do that other than the fact that she loves animals,” said Petra, now a volunteer at Goatlandia.

Through the Goatlandia community, Petra adopted one lamb and three goats, including a special needs goat.

“I love how they engage with the community,” Petra said of Goatlandia. “They’re compassionate but not judgemental. They truly, truly care.”

Goatlandia also offers cooking classes for eco-vegan recipes, helmed by Blum, who draws from her professional background in restaurants. She recently made a mushroom wellington dish, which includes portobellos and herbs.

“The fork is a powerful tool to fight climate change,” Blum said. “By eating less meat and lowering the demand we're actually helping to heal the planet, and that's it's a very real and tangible action that we can all take three times a day. There’s a lot of positivity and power in that.”

“We all are interconnected and the actions and energy we put out come back. By living with kindness and compassion, we kind of reap what we sow.”

A second property, 36 acres in Sebastopol, was purchased two years ago. Blum said she hopes to expand the animal sanctuary and programming on about half of the property. She estimated it may cost just over $1 million to develop and plans to start a capital campaign for it next year.

In the works is a children’s camp next summer, providing a space for trauma therapists to bring their patients, and a garden and orchard to grow fresh produce.

Goatlandia has one full-time employee, two part-time employees, and Blum and her husband Patrick Stewart volunteer full-time for the organization. Before the pandemic, it hosted over 200 events a year, Blum said.

Since the 2017 wildfires, the couple also volunteer to help animals in the area evacuated safely during disaster through the Sonoma Community Animal Response Team.

Goatlandia supporters can purchase eco-friendly merchandise, sign up to volunteer or donate at goatlandia.org.