Christopher Vane opened Florida's Little Bear Sanctuary in honor of his late mother, who taught him compassion. He's saved more than 150 farm animals.

Christopher Vane fights back tears whenever he recalls something his mother, Ursula, used to say in her final years on Earth: “When I die, I’m going to have a barn up in heaven and I’m going to have all the animals and they’re going to stay with me.”

Sadly, Ursula died about six months before her son opened a no-kill sanctuary for farm animals — which he named Little Bear Sanctuary in her honor. (Ursula means “little bear” in Latin.)

“She was my biggest supporter,” Vane, 58, told TODAY. “She taught me compassion. She always loved animals. I know she’s looking down on us.”