Tuesday's storms tore through Erin's Farm, a rescue and educational sanctuary in Hobart, Indiana, in minutes.

The shelter buildings that housed the miniature horses are gone. One was ripped from its foundation and carried fifty feet. A tree crushed the other. Fences that kept animals safe are flattened, and trees the sanctuary's animals and visiting schoolkids relied on for shade and play are down.

"All the animals are OK and our staff are OK and that's the important thing," said Erin Yanz of Erin's Farm. She described watching smaller shelters get swept away and fences collapse in real time: "The animals that weren't in the shelter were struggling to stand, so it was pretty scary."

Every animal survived. But without shelter, fencing, and safe enclosures rebuilt fast, that safety won't last through the next storm or the coming cold months.

Small nonprofit sanctuaries like Erin's Farm run on tight budgets and volunteer labor. They don't have a corporate insurance policy or a disaster fund sitting in reserve, and state and local emergency relief programs routinely overlook them in favor of larger agricultural operations.

This petition calls on the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Lake County officials, and the Governor of Indiana to direct emergency disaster relief funding toward small nonprofit animal sanctuaries like Erin's Farm, so rescued and rehabilitated animals aren't left exposed while help goes elsewhere.

These animals already survived one storm. Sign the petition to get Erin's Farm the emergency relief funding it needs before the next one hits.