Many lives are forever changed since one man set foot on a Sequim animal sanctuary.

To acknowledge the devotion, work ethic, but most importantly the intrinsic compassion of Ken Harada, a volunteer at Precious Life Animal Sanctuary, the sanctuary’s owners and founders Caryl and Ralph Turner honored him with a “Compassion Award” on Dec. 14.

Since he first began volunteering at Precious Life Animal Sanctuary about two years ago, Harada has returned nearly every other day to help. His responsibilities have grown and easily extend into every facet of the sanctuary from maintenance to caring for the animals, but Harada’s personality is illuminated most by his compassion and appreciation for life.

“He truly values life,” Ralph said. “He has an abundance of compassion and empathy for other living things and not just for animals, but all beings. The level of compassion he has is probably the highest attribute anyone could have.”

Harada is a tall slender man in his 30s. He has bright eyes and a warm, gentle smile. Beyond words like “kind” and “compassionate” Harada is described by the Turners as “quite, humble and almost painfully shy.” However, when caring for a previously neglected or abused animal, whether it be a cow, rabbit or pig, he has a sense of awareness and insight beyond most, Ralph explained.

“I was extremely nervous when I first came here and met you because that’s how I am when I meet new people,” Harada told Ralph when asked why he continues to volunteer at the sanctuary upon receiving the award. “But I started to feel more comfortable and I like the animals.”

As Harada has continued to volunteer at Precious Life Animal Sanctuary, he’s helped to extend and better a variety of animals’ lives, as well as enrich the lives of all those that work around him, Ralph said.

In addition to Harada’s genuine and subtle way with the 100-plus animals at the sanctuary, he’s able to physically keep pace with the demands of 85 acres.

“It has gotten to a point where I don’t know what we’d do without Ken,” Ralph said.

When operating an animal sanctuary, Ralph said, “appearances” are important because if the property isn’t well-kept, then it’s often thought that the animals aren’t going to be properly cared for either.

Regardless of how labor intensive, with Harada’s help and landscaping skills, Precious Life Animal Sanctuary is parklike, including sprawling fields for a handful of cows and rescued burros, a huge pig enclosure equipped with a shallow dipping pool and a well-protected, spacious poultry yard to house the unwanted wild turkeys originally from La Conner.

The sanctuary also is home to many of the rabbits needing relocated from Seattle’s Woodland Park and later the rabbits from the University of Victoria.

The sanctuary

The Turners founded Precious Life Animal Sanctuary in 1999. Before moving to their property and now sanctuary off Lost Mountain Road, they lived in Edmonds and had long been involved with animal protection issues, primarily focused on wildlife and environmental efforts.

Applying their love toward animals, the Turners began rescuing large breed dogs with an emphasis on Great Pyrenees and continued to do so as their rescue efforts morphed into also including farm animals.

“There just isn’t the same level of support for farm animals that there is for companion animals,” Ralph said. “Instead, a lot of the time farm animals aren’t even thought of as individual lives, but a commodity.”

During the mid-1990s while working to get signatures for state Initiative 655 to ban bear-baiting, Ralph was exposed to many like-minded people with a shared kindness toward animals. Through his experience and conversations while working on I-655, Ralph was inspired to attend a livestock auction to gain insight into commercial farming.

After attending multiple auctions and seeing the “unbelievable confinement and suffering” of the horses, cows and pigs bound for slaughter, it wasn’t long before Ralph and Caryl rescued their first Holstein calf, Buddy.

With a charismatic, unique and friendly personality Buddy was the fuel and inspiration needed for the sanctuary. By 1999, Ralph and Caryl were able to start the nonprofit and shortly retired thereafter in 2003 and 2006. Since, the Turners have been dedicated to providing a safe space for abused, neglected or abandoned farm animals and teaching humane education in hopes of enhancing the “collective consciousness,” Ralph said.

“We wanted to do something that was meaningful to us,” Caryl said. “We just try to extend our compassion and we try to lead by example.”

For the past 17 years Ralph and Caryl have worked “every waking day” to mold their property into the sanctuary it is, Ralph said, but as they age the importance and value of volunteers like Harada are greatly highlighted. Ralph recently underwent knee surgery and because of complications wasn’t able to work on the sanctuary for about four months.

Without Ralph, Caryl looked to Harada to help maintain the sanctuary and the many lives it supports.

“I couldn’t have done it without him,” she said. “Whatever it was, he was here.”

Other longstanding and much appreciated volunteers of Precious Life Animal Sanctuary include Elaine Miyabara, John Mash, Morgan Boudrou, Debbie Drake, Reed Mathis and Gordon Peterson.

While gathered together to honor Harada, Ralph told attending volunteers that although they’re a small group of devoted individuals, their efforts help to create lasting “ripples” and just as Harada’s award states — “No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.”

For more information on the sanctuary and volunteer opportunities, visit www.preciouslifeanimalsanctuary.org, or call 582-1437.

Reach Alana Linderoth at alinderoth@sequimgazette.com.