In 2017, Chris Vane and his partner Randy Sellers took a chance on a long-time dream and purchased a 30-acre property in Southwest Florida. This was no ordinary home purchase, though. Chris and Randy wanted to create a safe space for abandoned and abused agricultural animals to live out the rest of their lives in peace, free of cages. With the support of community members and total strangers alike, Chris and Randy have been able to love and care for over 200 different animals at his sanctuary over the years—and they have big plans to help countless more.

 Chris has always felt a deep connection to animals and spent years pondering ways he could improve their lives. While attending a real estate seminar in 2015 about creating a million-dollar business, a light bulb went off in his mind. He realized that helping animals—not selling property—was his true passion.

“I started asking myself, ‘How do I really want to spend the remainder of my life, and what is my ultimate passion?’” he says. “I couldn’t get animals out of my mind, and every thought I had led to specifically rescuing farm animals and opening a sanctuary.”