The O'Donnells of Eagle Mountain started with a rescued dog, and now they have goats, pigs, cats, birds, horses -- and even a turkey and a snow-white dove.

With about 100 rescued animals, many of them acquired over the past year, the Friends In Need animal sanctuary in Eagle Mountain is bursting with pets. All have been rescued, whether it be the dog given up because he has cancer or the new chickens that were dying under a heat lamp in a local store.

Seven years ago, after volunteering for years as an animal advocate, Karen O'Donnell and her husband, Kim, came across a dog that had been run over and left on the road to die. Using $1,200 from their savings, the couple took the dog to the vet and saved its life.

Over the years the couple slowly acquired other dogs, and three years ago they moved to a 6-acre home in Eagle Mountain to have more room for their growing menagerie. A year ago, they had acquired more than a dozen dogs, several cats and a handful of birds.

Then someone asked them to rescue a horse.

As soon as the rescue effort expanded to farm animals, the couple say they were inundated with farmers and hobbyists who could no longer afford their horses with the rising cost of hay.

In addition to cats, dogs, birds and rabbits, the O'Donnells now have six horses, one miniature horse, 10 pygmy goats, one sheep, six pigs, nine chickens, four ducks, a turkey, and a white dove that adopted the farm.

They spend about $1,500 a month on food, medicine and medical bills to care for the animals, which they call their children. Volunteers come twice a month from as far as Idaho and southern Utah to spend time with the animals, build fences and shelters, and hold fundraisers.

National humane organizations have helped the couple fence their property and build additional shelters for the farm animals, and veterinary technician students from the Jordan Applied Technology Center in West Jordan help with health issues.

Sue Loe of Firth, Idaho, found Friends In Need while looking for a rescued animal to adopt online. She has adopted two dogs, Maggie and Ditto, from the O'Donnells since 2005 and is now the nonprofit's in-kind donation coordinator.

Earlier this month, she drove from Idaho to man a fundraising booth for the group at Eagle Mountain's annual city celebration. The booth raised $160, enough to purchase one ton of hay for the farm animals.

"I'm really committed to these folks," Loe said. "I think they are doing the most wonderful thing they can for abandoned and disadvantaged animals and I would hope people would open up their hearts to help them out."

Especially with animals that are sick or have been wounded or abused, finding adoptive families is difficult, the O'Donnells said. And finding families that are willing to stick with mature adopted pets is even harder. One of the couple's dogs has been adopted out four times, only to be returned each time.

"This isn't the place for happy stories," Kim O'Donnell said, noting the couple specializes in caring for animals that have been abused, neglected and abandoned.

"You can't adopt a perfect animal from a shelter," Karen O'Donnell said. "You have to work with them, give them time."

Many of the animals will never leave the sanctuary because they are dealing with medical and abuse issues, the couple said.

But there are successes. Other, more adoptable animals, such as a recent poodle, are found homes so quickly they never even spend a day at the sanctuary.

To keep their burgeoning expenses in check, the couple rely on volunteer groomers, veterinary services and food donations from local stores and residents.

For more information about the sanctuary, donations and volunteering, visit www.Friends-In-Need.org or call (801) 440-9931.