Where Grief and Rescued Animals Heal Together
Selah Carefarm has been featured in the June 2026 issue of Arizona Highways, the magazine that has celebrated the people, wildlife and landscapes of the state since 1925. Written by Annette McGivney, the feature shares how a single rescued horse near Sedona inspired a 20-acre sanctuary devoted to traumatic grief support and animal-assisted healing. It is a moving, in-depth look at the work that happens every day at Selah Carefarm, and a meaningful recognition of the MISS Foundation’s mission to walk alongside families after the death of a child.
The Story Behind Selah Carefarm
The article traces the origins of Selah Carefarm to April 2015, when Dr. Joanne Cacciatore set out for a hike along an Arizona trail and instead encountered a severely abused pack horse that could barely stand. Though she had never owned a horse, Cacciatore — an Arizona State University professor and lifelong animal lover — decided the animal had to be rescued, and that she was the one to do it. After turning back and making a series of phone calls, she brought him home three days later.
She housed the horse in a small pasture near Sedona and enlisted veterinarians to treat his many injuries, including being at least 600 pounds underweight. A client suggested the name Chemakoh, an O’odham word meaning “two souls who came together in a moment.” At the time, Cacciatore’s academic work centered on helping people cope with traumatic grief — a subject she had studied since the death of her infant daughter in 1994. As Chemakoh slowly healed, she saw the profound effect he had on her grieving clients, and that connection between people and animals became the foundation for Selah Carefarm.
A Home for Nearly 60 Rescued Animals
A decade after his rescue, Chemakoh is healthy, well-fed and sharing a large pasture with several other rescued horses. The 20-acre Selah Carefarm, tucked against the tree-lined banks of Oak Creek in Central Arizona, is now home to nearly 60 rescued animals. Alongside the horses live about a dozen goats, several donkeys, an alpaca, a pig, and an assortment of chickens, cows, sheep, dogs and cats.
Before Cacciatore and her husband purchased the property, it was a vineyard stripped of much of its native vegetation. Over the past decade, the couple has restored the land with willows and other native plants, turning it into a thriving, healing oasis. The sanctuary is funded entirely through private donations. It is not a petting zoo, and the horses are never ridden — as Cacciatore puts it in the feature, they have already carried enough. The animals’ only job is to live and heal, and their presence becomes powerful medicine for everyone who visits.
Healing Through Nature and Connection
Rather than treating grief as a medical condition to be cured, Selah Carefarm invites people to move through loss by immersing themselves in the natural world. Clients visit on their own or attend guided group retreats following a traumatic loss, such as the death of a child. Cacciatore points out that being near animals helps release calming hormones like oxytocin, gently easing the body and mind during the most painful moments.
The Arizona Highways feature illustrates this through the story of Rachel Cox, whose three-year-old son Zaadii was killed by a distracted driver in 2015. At Selah, Cox found comfort not only in the rescued animals but in the community of fellow grieving parents she met there — a place where it felt safe to both cry and laugh. One of her favorite activities is bouncing on a trampoline alongside the goats. Cacciatore has documented the carefarm model in academic papers and in her acclaimed book, Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief.
The setting itself is part of the therapy. Surrounded by restored willow groves and the quiet of Oak Creek, visitors are free to grieve at their own pace, without being rushed toward “closure” or treated as though their sorrow is something to be fixed. For many, simply being near animals who have survived their own hardship offers a quiet, hopeful reminder that healing is possible.
“Animals Give us a sense of emotional connection and belonging”
Why This Matters
Being featured in Arizona Highways — a respected publication with a century-long legacy — brings meaningful, statewide attention to Selah Carefarm and the broader work of the MISS Foundation. The coverage affirms the carefarm’s role as a leader in traumatic grief support and animal-assisted therapy, and it introduces a wider audience to a compassionate, nature-based approach to healing after profound loss. For the families who find their way to Selah, that visibility also helps sustain the donations and awareness the sanctuary depends on to keep welcoming them.
Support the Work at Selah Carefarm
Selah Carefarm offers retreats, programs and scholarships for bereaved families, sustained by the generosity of donors who keep its gates open. Every rescued animal on the property — and every grieving family welcomed through it — depends on community support. To learn more about the sanctuary’s programs, meet the animals who call it home, or help sustain this work, explore the links below.