Goldie the horse

This is Goldie who just came to Modjeska Ranch Rescue. She is 30 years old and was at a shelter and scheduled to be put down. She is very thin but now she is getting lots of good food and senior sweet feed.

Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon

It's been raining again in Southern California. The song that says it doesn't has had to give way to some old James Taylor ( see the title).
The Rescue is on a ridge coming out of Modjeska Canyon and the ridge is all clay and rocks. The clay is very red and in this weather very clingy and muddy. Pity the poor horses, although they don't seem to mind much. The 4 horses we have at the moment, including a nice Appaloosa, sometimes stand in the rain even though they have plenty of cover.

We took in some more dogs last week, including a chocolate toy poodle and a cocker spaniel. Both will make great pets, but the rate of adoption has fallen fast during the recession so we will have to try harder, and look after them longer.

The black goat continues to find ways out of the corral! Not doing any harm but just have this desire for order in things and he's supposed to be in the corral. He doesn't listen when I tell him.,

Spirit the pony escaped

Spirit is aptly named.

He is a one-eyed Shetland pony with a mind of his own. Last week I went home, to the Ranch, at lunchtime to pick up something I needed. AH......Spirit was out..somehow the corral gate was open and he was looking at me triumphantly. As I walked up to him, he took off across the field, and hill, which, it having just rained, was muddy. I was in khakis and business shoes as I was on my way to see a Real Estate client. Picture this.........I am chasing across the field when my inspector calls me from a house a client is buying and says he can't get in as they changed the lockbox. I chase Spirit up the hill, and call the other agent at the same time to enquire , politely of course, why he changed the lockbox! Having solved that problem, finally Teresa and I get Spirit back into the corral using the usual method...bribery...lots of food.

The dogs at the ranch thought this was a spectator sport of course and enjoyed it thoroughly. My shoes and pants did not enjoy it.

Tarantula!!!

Last week, I was working in the office when a huge scream came from the hallway. I rushed out expecting to see at least a torrent of blood....but there were Teresa and about 15 dogs quivering with fear around....a Tarantula! I have to say it was a HUGE Tarantula.

What a uniquely fearsome looking creature they are.

I tossed a plastic dog bowl over it, and slid a file jacket underneath to pick it up.

Resisting the temptation to drop it on Teresa's shoulder, I carefully relocated the hairy monster well away from the house and the animals.

I wonder where he is now???

Pig Escape

My job in the mornings, before I go to work, is to feed the horses, goats and pigs, and then clean up all the dog "waste" from the Ranch.

One morning recently, I arrived in the corral to find that the pigs had broken the gate between them and the horses and were standing guard in the corral, much to the consternation of the horses.

I managed to get the pigs back into their area and repair the gate.............................or so I thought.

Next morning.......pigs in the corral...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This happened 4 mornings in a row.

Finally I have fixed the gate so the pigs cannot "unfix" it again. They are very smart !!!!

Chasing pigs is not a good start to the day !

Another dog rescued from a Hoarder

There are many people trying to do their "bit" to help animals in need. Our rescue has found new homes for over 6000 in the last 8 years, and we care for a lot on a daily basis.
However, take the case of Mack here, who at the time of writing still needs a new home. We took him in from what we term a "Hoarder". Some people start to take in animals, probably with the best of intentions, but them allow themselves to get overwhelmed. Mack was living in a house with a lot of other animals, underfed, ill-cared for and frightened. There are many hoarders, and often they are not looking for new homes for the animals, merely taking in new ones all the time without the facilities or funds to care for them. Once again, I am sure they started off well-intentioned, but then descended into a world where they and the animals are a community a little like those science-fiction underworld tunnels of squalor.
Mack is now cleaned up and looking for a new home. He is not the first we have taken from such places. A few years ago, we took some cats from a lady in San Diego who had 200 cats in her house ! You can only imagine the conditions.

How do you move a lot of fencing?

Most of our work is caring for and finding homes for homeless cats and dogs. However, over the years we have acquired a wide range of beasts. We have a large fenced field for horses, goats, Llamas etc. or whatever else finds it's way here.

Our fencing is a varied mishmash of what we could get cheap or free, and in some cases it is barely adequate.

A friend of the Rescue, and a client of Russell's real estate business, just bought a house and a stable. She has offered us a lot of corral fence , and for free !

We are excited about it.

However, it is in Temecula and we are in Orange County. It is a lot of 24foot long pieces.

How do we get it from there to here without spending money? it will not go in a normal vehicle!

Thus are the challenges of animal rescue. If you have a solution, call us!