Our Story

Having the opportunity to provide a home and care for animals in need has been a lifelong dream for me. When Molly and I met and began to build our relationship it soon became apparent that she shared my passion and love for all creatures. After spending the majority of my adult life traveling the world working as private security for recording artists, I needed a change.

We made the decision to sell our home in a congested, trendy neighborhood bordering Detroit, MI and look for a new beginning. While my dream was to leave the city and get a sprawling property in the country, it was not a possibility logistically. And then, after looking at dozens of houses, we came across what we immediately knew was our next home. Tucked away in small wooded area just outside of the city limits we found not only a house that had the potential we were looking for but a small chunk of land and an old horse barn to go with it. For the first time my dreams of starting a sanctuary became attainable.

Within days of finding our new home our first resident found us. While still living at our old house I came across a badly injured pigeon in our neighbors yard. I didn’t think he would make it through the night but wanted to at least offer him a safe and quiet place for however long he had left. To my surprise he not only survived but displayed a strong will to live. After months of care and nursing him back to health it was clear that Norman would never recover completely. Before we even moved into the house I built him an aviary and Little Woods officially welcomed its first permanent resident.

We have recently said goodbye to the original home that started Little Woods and moved to that dream property out in the country! In December of 2021 we found the perfect place to expand our operation that would allow us to impact more lives. In March 2022 we made the move to Central Michigan and are currently in the process of building out the property and welcoming new residents.

Our goal is to provide a safe and loving home to animals in need, whether that be domestic animals or wildlife that has been injured due to human neglect and can no longer survive on their own. We seek to provide education to the general public on animal welfare and spread knowledge of the benefits of living a cruelty free lifestyle.

— Ryan Gardner, Co-founder Little Woods Sanctuary

Little Woods Animal Sanctuary is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization