08/07/2026
💔 Unfortunately, I have some very difficult news to share. 💔
Like many rescues here on the west side of Tennessee, we have made the heartbreaking decision to make the executive decision to close Tennessee Thompson Wild Rescue Ranch.
Honestly, I didn’t know how to tell everyone this. I have rewritten this post more times than I can count because admitting that our dream is coming to an end is absolutely heartbreaking. I feel beyond defeated.
But even through the heartbreak, I still want to thank God for allowing me the opportunity to live out a childhood dream. For a little while, I got to build something I had dreamed about for so long—to rescue, love, rehabilitate, and give animals a second chance. That is something I will always be grateful for.
Unfortunately, the financial burden has simply become too much for us to carry.
Our rescue has been funded almost entirely by my personal paycheck, and that same paycheck is also what supports my family of six. We have lost all of our donors, and despite applying for grants and doing everything we could to keep moving forward, we have been denied all of the grants we applied for.
We knew the first couple of years were going to be hard. We knew starting a rescue from the ground up would be an enormous challenge, and we anticipated having to make sacrifices.
What we didn't anticipate were all of the additional expenses that came with moving everything and everyone from Colorado to Tennessee when everyone who volunteered backed out. We also never could have anticipated the month-long ice storm and the damage and unexpected expenses it brought with it.
We have fought hard. We have tried fundraising. We have applied for grants. We have stretched every dollar as far as we possibly could. But sometimes, no matter how badly you want something, you have to recognize when the burden has become more than you can safely carry.
This isn't because we stopped caring.
It isn't because we stopped loving these animals.
And it certainly isn't because the dream wasn't worth fighting for.
We simply have reached a point where we can no longer financially sustain the rescue.
To every single person who donated, shared a post, sponsored an animal, voted for us, volunteered, encouraged us, prayed for us, or simply believed in what we were trying to accomplish—
THANK YOU. ❤️
You helped make my childhood dream a reality, even if it was only for a season.
Every animal we were able to help mattered. Every life we touched mattered. Every moment of trust we earned from an animal that had been neglected, abandoned, or forgotten mattered.
I don't know what the future holds, but I know that God does.
So although this chapter is ending with a broken heart, I am choosing to trust that God has a reason for every door He closes. I am praying one day I'll be able to come back and do it even better than before
Thank you for believing in Tennessee Thompson Wild Rescue Ranch. Thank you for believing in me. And most importantly, thank you for helping us give these animals a chance.
With a very heavy heart,
Angela ❤️🐴
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." — Jeremiah 29:11
