How it all began

PSGR's late founder, Barbara, never set out to start a rescue.  It just happened.  

Back in 2001, she purchased a 9-acre property in Maple Valley WA that had a little A frame house, a big shop and acres of blackberries.  One day a neighbor brought two goats over, tied them to her gate and said she needed them to help keep the pastures under control.  That they did and she fell in love with them.  The shop quickly became a barn, and she decided to get more goats.  That led her to the local livestock auction.

She didn't realize how many of the goats there sold for meat.  Not wanting to see friendly, pet goats selling to the slaughterhouses, she started bringing home more and more goats until she had over 50.  Not long after, people in the community were coming to her asking about getting goats for their farms.  Barabara realized she could start adopting them out in the community, making room to save more.  

Then came the surrender requests, the relationships with the slaughterhouse owners and just like that, a rescue was born. 

Over the years, Barbara had many partners in the rescue who, over time, left to do other things but Barbara's commitment to the goats and PSGR never wavered.  Over the next 10 years, PSGR would save countless lives from livestock auctions, directly from slaughterhouses, baby boys that breeders would otherwise send to auction, owner surrenders, animal control cases…and not just goats but sheep, alpacas, calves.... She worked a full-time job in sales and had a small, dedicated group of volunteers that helped take care of the animals.   Donations would come in from time to time but Barbara primarily self-funded the rescue for years.

In 2011, PSGR became an official non-profit with 501(c)3 status so that donations could be tax deductible for donors.  She started a Facebook page for the rescue because even though she really had no interest in it, social media was becoming popular. 

Not long after, a new volunteer would start driving from Seattle every weekend to volunteer at the farm.  Little did either of us know how much the rescue and our lives, were about to change...

Barbara Jamison, Founder of Puget Sound Goat Rescue