How a Rock River sanctuary is healing hearts with goats
LARAMIE — Visitors to Undine Park’s weekly Tuesday Local Market were greeted by some four-legged friends this week: five friendly goats.
The animals, brought to the farmers market by J&J Second Chance Small Holdings, quickly became the center of attention.
The outreach effort gave market-goers an opportunity to meet the animals while learning about the organization.
For Jennifer Clark, the founder and president of J&J Second Chance Small Holdings, the presence of these animals holds an extreme importance, especially in times of hardship.
“I grew up with animals. I joined the military and was gone for a long time. I got injured in Iraq pretty bad, and they gave me a service dog,” Jennifer said. “When I went home, my daughter had a hard time reading, she wasn’t able to communicate with people. She has autism. She could function around animals. So I taught her to read using dogs and cats. She read to the dog; she read to the cats.”
The organization, which was named “J&J” to represent Jennifer and her daughter, Jenna, originally began as a small endeavor. Throughout the years, it has expanded into a full-scale sanctuary and rescue for hundreds of animals in need.
“We moved to Wyoming in 2017. Our house burned in 2019, but we had land, and people would call us up and say, ‘Hey, so and so’s parent died. Can you take two goats?’ And at the time, I had six goats, and I was like ‘Sure, what’s two more?’ And then I’d get a phone call of, ‘I lost my job. I have eight goats. Can you take eight goats?’ And within a year, we had 100 goats,”said Jennifer.
Located in Rock River, the organization currently has 250 goats, four bovines, 12 horses, eight dogs, 10 cats, and one chinchilla. Many of the animals are not up for adoption, but Jennifer makes sure that the ones that can be adopted will go into appropriate homes.
“If animals were abused prior to coming to us, which many are, they get to live the rest of their life happy with us,” she said, “In order to adopt from us, you have to go through an adoption process. We call your references. We call your vet because having a small animal vet is not what a goat or anything else needs.”
Beyond acting as a rescue, J&J Second Chance specializes in a form of animal- assisted therapy — “goat therapy” — with their largest number of animals.
“The goat therapy started off because when you look at a goat, they’re happy. You just can’t help but smile. We work with a lot of people that are contemplating permanent decisions, and it’s our way of stopping it,” Jennifer said. “It’s really hard to do something permanent when you’re holding a fluffy goat.”
The decision to use goats as therapy animals rather than more traditional animals is highly intentional.
“Goat therapy is a cross between equine, and dog and cat therapy,” Jennifer said. “It’s a safer animal than a big horse, and less intimidating. They’re just something different than a dog or a cat, which you see every day.”
Looking ahead, Jennifer is focused on bringing the same reading techniques that helped her daughter to children across the community. Through partnerships with local schools, J&J Second Chance is working to make “goat reading” a regular resource for struggling students.
“Business can sponsor us to go to a school where we teach goat reading. The kids get to read to the goats, and the goats love to be read to,” Jennifer said. “It’s a levity that a lot of these kids today don’t get because of all the stress on everybody to learn quickly. Unfortunately, we have a lot of reading issues, and how I taught my daughter was reading to animals. So now, I help other kids learn using animals.”
For more information about donations, community involvement, events and more, visit jjsecondchancesmallholdings.com.
This story was published on July 18, 2026.
Ensure These Stories Are Told
Despite the challenges facing independent local journalism, what sustains us — and fills us with deep gratitude — is the loyal support of readers who believe our communities deserve accurate, trusted, and locally rooted news.
It is no exaggeration to say that we are here because of you. Every story we report, every local issue we follow, every public meeting we cover, and every community voice we lift up is made possible by readers who understand the value of an independent newspaper.
Your support does more than fund articles. It helps protect the independence that allows us to report honestly, ask important questions, and keep our community informed without fear or favor.
If you are able, please consider supporting the News Letter Journal by donating to our Unabridged Fund today. Whether your gift helps cover reporting time, printing costs, video, photography, editing, or distribution, every contribution helps keep local journalism strong in Wyoming.
All gifts are deeply appreciated. Your support helps ensure that local stories continue to be told, local decisions continue to be watched, and local voices continue to be heard.
Thank you for standing with independent community journalism.