About Wandering Hearts Rescue

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 Wandering Hearts Rescue is a 501C3 located in Polk County, NC. Wandering Hearts was founded in 2023 by a group of equine professionals who saw a need for assisting equine and other farm animals find brighter futures. Our founder, Jasmine Pierce, has worked endlessly on many surrenders and her passion for ensuring these rescues get the care and love they deserve is truly inspiring. We have big plans to unite our rescues with loving, permanent homes.  

 A cold and rainy day in February 2022 was resolution day for over 30 farm animals.  It ended with some in green pastures and some going over the rainbow bridge.  We don't like to look back at that day- it was ugly and beautiful all in one breath. It was the result of a 10 year long investigation led by Rutherford County and Polk County Animal Control Officers.  

Bayard and Jasmine are PEER (Polk Equine Emergency Rescue) volunteers and were asked to assist in catching, loading, and transporting horses.  Early that morning they lined the road outside of Paws Ranch with over a dozen other trailers, numerous handlers, veterinarians, and law enforcement officials.  The depth of the disgust and heartbreak they would find behind the locked gates was still unknown. While most of the volunteers worked to get panels and trailers set up to transport animals, select members of law enforcement stayed with the property owner. After presenting her with warrants to confiscate all animals on the property, she still maintained an attitude of casual indifference while joking about the condition of the animals under her care and accusing all involved of stealing her horses. 

Once on the property, volunteers discovered the real horrors. Some of the horses could hardly stand. They were so emaciated that they were literally skin and bones. Distressingly, volunteers also discovered several deceased horses on the property. 

Once the equipment was in place the volunteers split into three groups to transport horses off the property. The first team worked with the tamest of the animals. Handlers assisted veterinarians to photograph, vaccinate, and deworm any horse that was deemed healthy enough to transport. The second team worked with the more untamed horses. Several of these animals had never been handled, so the team brought in corral panels and spent several hours calmly getting them contained.  Once safely contained, volunteers backed up a trailer to a holding pen. Then, one by one, worked to load each animal into the trailer to relocate them to a safe location. The final group of volunteers had the grisly job of canvasing the property. They walked through piles of trash, debris, and rotting remains of horses and other animals. They found fresh remains of horses "hidden" by plywood.  They found deceased goats in the barn.  They found two horses who were too weak and too sick to leave the property and had to assist the veterinarian in a humane euthanasia. 

That cold and wet February day was filled with immense heartbreak for everyone involved. However, this was superseded by the overwhelming joy at knowing there would be no animals left suffering at that farm.

Rescues from all over the Carolinas took in 13 horses and several sheep and goats. At the end of the day, 10 horses were left without placement. Jasmine and Bayard offered to help by providing shelter for two of the horses.  These two were given the names Ruby and Scout, and their stories can be found under the "meet our herd" link. 

Wandering Hearts Rescue continues to work with local authorities and private individuals to take in farm animals being confiscated or relinquished from horrific situations. WHR will always be a safe landing place for animals to gain the ability to be safely rehomed to loving farms and families! 

The long-term hope is for the continuing education component of Wandering Hearts Rescue to help break the cycle of neglect that occurs far too often.  We welcome any and all educational topic suggestions, please share your thoughts!