This Utah farmer is on a mission to rescue Utah’s abused farm animals

The Farm, true to its name, packs a lot into a small space.

The quarter-acre working farm in West Jordan’s Gardner Village houses cows, goats, sheep, horses, pigs, bunnies and alpacas. Most of the animals were rescued from situations where they endured physical abuse and trauma.

The farm has been in operation at Gardner Village, the event space and boutique shopping center, for 10 years — all under the compassionate care of Russ Murdock, known to all as Farmer Gil. Over that time, 112 horses and ponies that were physically abused — and who otherwise would have been euthanized — have been rehabilitated and placed in new homes.

Horses, Murdock said, are his favorite animal — though one notices just by walking with him at the farm how close he is with all the animals.

“I get to save animals and I get to give them a life,” Murdock said. “What I’ve noticed is that it’s become more about the people than the animals because we rescue the animals and they rescue people.”

Wearing a straw hat and overalls with his name, “GIL,” embroidered on the bib, he talks with fondness for even the farm’s smelliest animals: The pigs. He gave them a bath the night before, and said the process was “cathartic,” because they can’t clean themselves.

Later, he prepared bottles for the calves, and gave out carrots and apples for the horses.

Murdock did not grow up on the farm, but in a middle-class life in Layton. He had pets as a child — including bunnies, rats and birds. They helped him, he said, deal with the abuse he suffered at home.

“They got me through a lot of tough stuff,” he said.

The animals also suffered. His mother, Murdock said, would sometimes punish him by killing animals to which he was attached. Sometimes, he said, she made him kill them.

The animals he cares for now on the farm are, he said, his therapy. They are magical, and can help heal a broken heart. They mean everything to him.

They are, he said, his redemption for what he endured as a child.

Triggers and rescues

Murdock’s first marriage, he said, set off some of the triggers from his childhood. He gave up animals for his first wife, but volunteered with the local animal control office to get his “animal fix.”

That’s how his first rescue service, based in Clinton, began.

“I found out they were euthanizing physically abused horses, because they’re violent and if they hurt somebody, [the office gets] sued,” he explains. “I got mad because I’d been abused and said, ‘That’s giving the death sentence to the victim. That’s not fair.’”

The animal control officials told him to do something about it, so he did. Murdock bought a ranch and started a rescue specifically for physically abused horses. Eventually, Murdock remarried and moved the rescue to Salt Lake City — but he ultimately had to give up the ranch because of the expense. He’s now long retired, running the nonprofit farm without an income. He said he paid for what’s now at Gardner Village with half of his 401k and a $90,000 signature loan.

The farm, he said, costs about $30,000 a month, or $360,000 a year, to maintain. Rescued animals tend to require bigger veterinary bills, so the costs stack up quickly.

Last year, Murdock said, Gardner Village raised the rent and shrunk the space. In the winter, there’s no running water, and people have to haul water themselves to the animals.

The farm has a small state-paid staff, Murdock said, but mostly relies on volunteers, of which it could always use more. The Gardner Village board finally voted him a salary last year — though since he’s in charge of payroll, he only takes a paycheck “occasionally.”

“My wife says, ‘Even if you take the salary, it just goes back to the horses,” he said, laughing.

The farm has a petting zoo and pony rides, which bring in some customers. Still, Murdock is working with the West Jordan City government to find a new location.

Success stories

Even with the hassles, though, the farm’s success stories abound — particularly when considering the abuses the rescue animals have endured.

The farm started taking in other animals, not just horses, said shift supervisor Lisa Coombs, because Salt Lake County Animal Services are in “cahoots” with Murdock, she said.

“Somebody calls animal control and they report an abuse situation, and they call Gil and he can go up and remove the [animal] from the situation,” Coombs said.

Among the animals who have been saved:

• Val is a white goat who couldn’t walk when she was born. Murdock spent hours working with her on physical therapy. Val can walk now, and on Sept. 30 gave birth to a kid, Mirabell.

• Princess Tiana and Queen Elizabeth are two horses that have separation anxiety and are attached to each other. “As a baby, you’re supposed to wean off horses so that they aren’t dependent on mom,” said volunteer Abby Whitchurch. “They weren’t, and they were abused together, so we’ve been trying to get them to be independent, like taking them on pony rides by themselves.”

• Rose is a donkey who is blind. “Somebody’s ex-wife tried to kill his donkey,” Murdock said, adding that Rose was hit in the head with a hammer. “It blinded her, but it didn’t kill her. When she got here, any time she smelled estrogen, she’d freak out and go in the corner. Rear up on her hind legs and strike out.” The farm also specializes in hiring special needs volunteers, one of whom started slowly working with Rose and helping her adjust to being around a woman.

• Blackie is a nine-year-old horse from Millcreek who had been beaten. She weighed 90 pounds — the standard weight for a horse that age is around 500 pounds, Murdock said.

• Penny is a horse who’s been on the farm a long time, but is still scared of just about everything, Murdock said, because her trauma is so deep.

Working with traumatized animals, Murdock said, “just takes time and love, just like a person would. … Just like I did.”

Larissa Danhof, the general manager, said Murdock often will stay overnight with the new animals to make sure they are doing well.

From February to June this year, Murdock said, the farm saved 60 sheep and 6 goats. Sometimes, though, the animals don’t make it. Murdock estimated the mortality rate at 30%, which he said is difficult for him.

“The rewards outweigh the pain and the sorrow that comes from dealing with the unpleasant outcomes,” he said. “That comes because of love. You wouldn’t feel sorrow if you didn’t love them.”

Farmer Gil’s hopes

The goal, he said, is to rehabilitate and find new homes for every animal, but some are hard to let go, and they stay with Murdock forever. “There’s a certain few that the [farm] family says, ‘No, these ones aren’t for sale,’” he said.

Murdock said he imagines his dream farm, with structural issues fixed and room to expand. He said he hopes for a nice facility with climate-control capabilities. He said he looks at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, with a playground and educational programs, as a model.

“We want to educate people about how to care for [the animals] properly,” he said.

On this day, Murdock talked with visitors, stopping to help alleviate Val the goat’s swollen teat. Later, he’ll take Prudence, the alpaca, to Alta View Hospital, to provide animal therapy to the patients there.

For all the animal success stories, the most poignant story may be that of Farmer Gil, who has a heart of gold — and a humility about the work he’s doing.

“We call it ‘The Farm’ instead of ‘Gil’s Farm,’” Murdock said, “because I want everybody to feel like it is theirs.”

If you suspect child abuse or neglect is happening, call the Utah Division of Child and Family Service’s 24/7 intake hotline, at 1-855-323-3237. You can report animal neglect in Salt Lake City by calling 385-468-7387.

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