The Crew
How We Got Here
Hello! I'm Alli. My husband, Justin, and I are so happy you are here and would like to introduce ourselves. We've been married for almost 18 years. We met in college and fell face first in love. We chose not to have human children, but opened our home to lots of animals that call us Mom and Dad. For years we worked to travel. We've been all over the world and are fascinated by experiencing different people, languages, and cultures. I'm an entrepeneur and own The Cryo Spa Inc with a good friend of mine. We have 2 locations in the DFW area and will be celebrating 10 years in cryotherapy industry in the spring of 2023. Justin is a freelance video engineer and EIC for Bally Sports. We both love our careers and are glad we are able to do it all! We were going about our lives in 2017, when we decided to watch 2 documentaries and that afternoon our lives changed forever. After watching What the Health and Earthlings, we made a promise to the animals, to ourselves, and to the planet that we would adopt a vegan lifestyle and live a life where our actions aligned with our values. Fast forward a few months and the idea to start The Zend began to blossom in our hearts. We knew it would be a lot of work and would change everything about our lives, but we got to work right away. We became a registered, non-profit 501(c)3 and started packing up our house. In the next few months Covid-19 entered and everything was put on hold. Once the dust started to settle we moved our 14 animals in to my mom's so we could show and sell our home that we'd lived in for 17 years. During the time it took for our home to sell, we took in our first official rescue, Lula Danie, a 5 day old lamb that had been rejected by her mother. By this point, we were in it for the long run and my mom, Ann, decided she was in for it too! She decided she would sell her home and buy the farm with us. She also adopted a vegan lifestyle and together, the 3 of us, have made the biggest dream we've ever dreamed come true. We've been here a little over a year and a half now and are getting ready for our second spring/summer season. The Zend is our forever home and a safe refuge for us humans too.
Big Projects
In a little over a year we have gone from the suburbs of DFW to the back roads of Justin, TX where we sit on a modest 6.4 acres. While we will always be a smaller sanctuary, that doesn't mean we can't make a BIG difference in the lives of the animals that call The Zend home and the humans that come to find solace here as well. We've raised funds to purchase the sheep and goat barn in the spring of 2022. They both have their separate sides and plenty of room to play and graze if they're not free grazing the entire property. Our feral kitties also call this barn's tack room home base. We feed them there and it provides shelter from the weather when they need it. Thanks to Jittabug and Hank's humans we were able to expand the pig area and have a second barn built for all 5 pigs to snuggle up together and stay cozy. Pigs love to sleep in pairs or a pile and they all love their special huts and barn. Our biggest rescue this year was our Longhorn Love campaign. We welcomed Sasha, Shelby, and Dutch this summer. They all came from a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, saving them from a gruesome fate. We believe Sasha is pregnant and we are expecting a new baby in the spring. It's been a really productive and successful year! At this point, we make repairs when necessary and build new enclosures as the need arises. Thank you to everyone who supports our mission by donating regularly to help us do our best for the animals in our care. Our supporters are the lifeline of the sanctuary and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
How can you help?
The best ways to support The Zend is by becoming a Monthly Sponsor of the animals. There are numerous links on our social media pages and this website to set up monthly donations. Every single penny goes directly to the cost of caring for our residents. You can also like, share, and interact with our posts on our facebook, instagram, and tik tok accounts. Find us @thezendtx on all platforms. If you'd like to join our volunteer team and help make the world a kinder, more compassionate place to live, one animal at a time, simply click below to answer a few questions. The animals and the humans look forward to meeting you.
See you at The Zend!
Volunteers
Bonnie
The Jakstas
The Jakstas
Bonnie has been volunteering her time and loving The Zend Kids since March of 2022. She grew up in Bedford, TX and attended Trinity High School. These days she is in the Pre-Vet Med Program at UNT in Denton and doing great! She is vegan for the animals and hopes to one day operate her own farm animal sanctuary (or we'll just let her take over in 20 years). ;) We love Bonnie and having her as part of our team has been awesome!
The Jakstas
The Jakstas
The Jakstas
The Jakstas are our volunteer family and we are so glad they found us! A big family of seven, they are all vegan and really living life aligned with their values. When they all come out we knock out some big chores. Every one of them is ready to do what needs to be done to ensure our residnets are happy and healthy. Thank you, Bel & David, Bella & Anthony, Juliette, Genevieve, and Vivienne. We love you guys!