"It's heaven in my backyard, and we just want to share it with the community and as many animals as we can."

Jonell Chudyk's mission may sound simple. Try telling this to the woman who's a  licensed social worker rebuilding a Byron farmhouse with her husband, raising her two-year old daughter and running a 503C non-profit that speaks to her passion: saving animals that have no other place.

That's what Chudyk and her partner in Mockingbird Farm, Jon Tedd, are doing on a handful of acres in Genesee County. Every day, Chudyk receives calls from people who want to dispose of farm animals or have learned about animals in danger, or those that've been abused.

"If we wanted, we could take new animals on every day," Chudyk said, "but we can't."

Mockingbird Farm has 17 animals now. Three donkeys who arrived in rough shape from a reservation. A chicken who'd nearly been pecked to death. Potbelly pigs that had been mistaken for another breed.

Chudyk and Todd rushed two Lamancha goats to their vet Friday with potential urinary track obstructions.

And yet, come spring, Mockingbird intends to expand its mission to help people who would enjoy sanctuary by being with the farm's animals. It's the social worker in her that moves Chudyk to open the farm to others.

"Animals, they don't lie. They're mirrors to our own emotions," Chudyk said. "There's a great connection between people and animals. There's a lot of evidence out there that shows interacting with animals lowers our heart rates and lowers stress hormones in our bodies."

At least one local foundation has expressed an interest in helping Mockingbird serve others after seeing Chudyk and Todd tell their story on Spectrum News' Your Morning Rochester Friday.

"It is our passion. We're glad to be doing it," Todd said.  

[[END]]

"It's heaven in my backyard, and we just want to share it with the community and as many animals as we can. ."
"It's heaven in my backyard, and we just want to share it with the community and as many animals as we can. ."
"It's heaven in my backyard, and we just want to share it with the community and as many animals as we can. ."
"It's heaven in my backyard, and we just want to share it with the community and as many animals as we can. ."