How We Started and Where We're Going

A letter from our founder

Dear Fellow Animal Lovers,

My name is Kristin Severson-Amador and I'm so happy to be able to welcome you to the Silver Linings Sanctuary. We see a lot about animal rescue - but, what happens after they've been removed from immediate danger? Many rescue animals suffer permanent damage to their bodies and minds, that will remain with them for the rest of their lives, often making them less attractive to potential "forever homes". The long term care, recovery and support that these animals need is a reality that isn't always considered, but it's often where the real work begins. Helping disadvantaged animals is a slow, steady, often very expensive, process that requires not only compassion, but also knowledge, skill and intense commitment every single day to make "forever" possible. Most of us want to be able to help animals - but, with so many in need, it can feel overwhelming and we can all use some extra ideas and encouragement. We believe that when we commit to support each other in helping one animal at a time, we can make a big difference. None of our residents would be here today if we hadn’t tried for them when they needed it most - but, they've all needed much more than initial veterinary care and relocation. We've learned that deep healing is usually a much longer process. Fortunately, over time, our efforts add up and we feel so fortunate to be able to provide a secure, loving environment for the 20+ animals that call SLS their forever home.

Even though the day to day care is critical to success, it can also be tedious and, quite frankly, heartbreaking - so, we find that it can be underrepresented. Consequently, sharing our experiences with like minded people is an important to us and your questions are always welcome. We are happy to talk about your specific situations as time permits.

Our high standards for the quality and specialized care that each of our residents require, make it necessary to keep the number of sanctuary animals relatively small.

All of our animals will live out their lives here and none of them are available for adoption. For their safety and yours, we maintain a private, contained environment. At this time, we do not have a quarantine facility (which is a part of our expansion plan) and cannot accept any surrenders.

Private tours are only available by appointment, contact us to arrange yours.

Thank you for your support!

Best to you and your animals,

Kris

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Founders

Silver Linings Sanctuary was cofounded by husband and wife team Kristin Severson and Ed Amador. They are lifelong animal lovers who are passionate about caring for unwanted, injured and otherwise disadvantaged animals. This desire made it a natural choice for them to turn their small Chester County, Pennsylvania farm into the home of Silver Linings Sanctuary. Ed worked on a horse farm with his grandfather as a young boy and Kristin has been a professional dressage horse trainer for almost 30 years. Her classical education, compassionate and consistently high quality training has earned her an excellent reputation and she loves passing along what she's learned, working with all kinds of animals and humans from diverse backgrounds. Because the animals at SLS all require experienced, specialized continuing care, Ed and Kristin are the sole caretakers at the sanctuary, while still continuing to do what they can to volunteer for and support other animal rescues and sanctuaries in their area. For them, helping animals is very much a labor of love.