We first met Misty Browning back in September 2020 during the Glass Fire in Sonoma County in CA. Goatlandia's Deborah and Patrick were dispatched through Sonoma CART to evacuate Misty and her animals from her home on a Sonoma County hilltop. She was a sweet and charismatic lady who had made her way to California after being a school teacher and musician in the South.
She had two horses and five sheep. We loaded everyone up along with a second CART trailer team and took them to the Petaluma Fairgrounds. Misty came with us to the fairgrounds as she really was concerned about her animals. Everyone was unloaded safely, and we promised Misty that her animals would be safe and that she shouldn’t worry. We really enjoyed getting to know Misty and listening to her tell stories of her life, her background, her love of teaching, and her animals. Many laughs, smiles and hugs were shared that day.
Sadly, Misty died recently from myeloma, a rare type of cancer. We were contacted to ask if we were able to take in Misty’s sheep. A rescue group was able to take in her two horses, but as is often the case with farm animals, no one wanted the sheep.
We’ve done a lot of rescues lately, but we felt very strongly about saving Misty's sheep. We were really shocked and saddened to hear that Misty had passed. We felt it was our duty to continue to fulfill our promise to her; to do what we can to make sure her beloved animals were safe. We picked them up, brought them to Goatlandia in Sebastopol, trimmed off some of their overgrown wool, hugged them, fed them, and they are now enjoying life in our vineyard and pasture. They are the sweetest girls and they have really relaxed, settled in and have become quite friendly. We even named one after Misty. We’re honored to continue to be of service in this way, and ensure her beloved girls have a wonderful, safe and loving life just as Misty would’ve wanted.
