For as long as anyone can remember, Shawn Bishop has been surrounded by animals.
Her mum’s favourite story is when she found Shawn as a toddler curled up happily and safely asleep with a friend’s “dangerous, chained dog in the backyard”.
It was a sign of things to come as Shawn grew up rescuing any animal she could. Then, at age 43, she and husband Michael Dixon took the plunge, gave up successful corporate careers and their urban Auckland lifestyle to start their own refuge, The Animal Sanctuary.
