Modjeska Ranch Rescue

Goldie the horse

2011-09-02T16:42:00.001-07:00

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

2010-10-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-08-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-05-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

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!

New arrival- a thoroughbred foal

2009-04-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Around Christmas, we complicated life a little by taking in 10 thoroughbred horses from a rescue that could no longer afford to feed them. One of them was pregnant, and here is the result....this is Brooklyn at 2 weeks old.

As if caring for and feeding dogs, cats, llamas, goats and pigs was not enough! Do you know how much a horse eats?? I think our feedbills exceed the national budget of a small country !

We found homes for 5 of the horses already, but Brooklyn and his Mom need a home. Any ideas? he is very cute!

Interesting that horses are hierarchical, like dogs. When we had all the horses together, which we now don't, it became evident that there is a "boss" horse, which gets to eat first and from any food she wants, and then a steady pecking order all the way down. Our 30 year old male quarter horse, Rusty, became the last on the list, and the young mares can be quite nasty if the order is broken. The young mares will bite and kick !

We now have Rusty and our shetland pony in their own area, and the Mom and Brooklyn are in their own area.

We really need help with hay. If anyone wants to donate hay for th horses, call us on 714 649 4406.

Pugs are GREAT !

2009-04-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

These pugs need a good home together! Running a rescue brings you many puzzles to solve and this is one of them. I simply don't understand why some dogs do not get adopted quickly! These guys have been with us for about 2 months...they are cute, friendly and almost no trouble at all. The only drawback is that they must go together. The picture tells you the story of their typical day .

Why has no-one adopted them?

We have some dogs that have been with us for years, and now they just live here and we are their home/sanctuary. If anyone knows someone who likes cuddly pugs, call the Rescue on 714 649 4406.

The Sun Also Rises.....and other stuff

2008-11-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

It was early. The California sun was breaking onto my bedroom across Saddleback Mountain, and the coyotes had gone to bed for the day. Shafts of light streaked across my sketch of David Hockney at 20. “Lives of Great English Poets” lay tattered by the side of my bed. Yesterday’s New York Times crossword lay half done, as I can never finish Thursday’s. I rolled off the bed and gazed from the balcony out over the Canyon. It was a lovely sunny day and I could just catch a glimpse of the sea and Catalina Island in the distance.

I padded out of the bedroom and down the curved staircase, gripping tight to the wrought-iron railing to offset the effects of age, sleep, and the remains of a bottle of good wine from the night before.

Near the bottom of the staircase, my bare foot landed on a step softly, yet also squishily.

I hesitated.

“ Oh, ***t!”, I said………….accurately!

Which way should I go? I hopped to the downstairs bathroom and opened the door, to be surprised by four bouncing 5 week old puppies who had **** all over my new expensive tile floor. They had chewed up the newspaper which I assume had been put down to prevent “dog discharge fallout” and they now thought jumping up my bare leg with their razor claws was a cute way to get my attention.

I surveyed the scene, smelled the odor, felt the claws, and closed the door in a period of about 3 seconds, having had to fend off the persistent advances of the puppies with my feet and hands and try not to slam their heads, paws etc in the rapid closing ( slamming) motion.

I had, in the chaos, forgotten the mess from the stairs which had still been stuck to my left foot, and which was now spread across the whole of the sole of my foot, and also on the hallway tile and door.

Before I had time to react, swear, or question the origin of the puppies, Teresa called from the kitchen and said “Careful if you go in the downstairs bathroom; there are puppies in there!”. That comment of course robbed me of the chance to make some smart remark about what I’d found in the bathroom and that is exactly what it was designed to do.

You will remember that I am still stood outside the bathroom, wearing only a T-shirt, poop on my foot, and scratches up my leg and am at the far end of the house from the next nearest bathroom. The kitchen, while large, is already full with one person, 25 dog bowls, 3 huge bags of dog food, sinks full of bowls needing cleaning, and two pans boiling chicken and rice………………....for the dog’s breakfast !

Where do I go to clean up ?

Answers on a postcard to …………………..

At this point I still do not know the culprit for the “pile” on the stair-carpet, if you will excuse the pun. A DNA test is out of the question, and it’s size and form have already been rendered useless for evidentiary purposes by the heavy descent of my foot. Suspects are many and a confession is unlikely.

Running an animal rescue was a decision we took. The strategic creep of the rescue space until we actually lived in it ourselves was imperceptible. One day I woke up and there were animals in my bed, in my bathroom, in ALL my bathrooms, in my garage, in my kitchen, and in the acre of ground I have carefully landscaped with 10,000 plants.

For a man who loves elegant decor, silence, quality furniture, old books and, above all, the smell of CLEAN things, this would seem like hell on earth.

In truth, there are days when it is just that, or something worse if it exists. The contrast of my chosen lifestyle to my house is as jarring as “Pat Boone sings Aerosmith’s greatest hits”. ( I’ll probably get letters from Pat Boone fans now saying he’s a great rock n’ roll singer )

However, there is another truth to this picture, which I cannot fully explain yet myself.

We have created something that is admired by many, and has achieved amazing things. Almost 5000 adoptions in 7 years, from a slow start.
Don’t get me wrong, I like animals. I just hadn’t planned to be further down the list of priorities than the ones in my own house!

I do get tremendous satisfaction from successful adoptions of dogs and cats which would otherwise have been “Dead meat”.

What is constantly surprising, no, astonishing, is the enormous need for what we do, and, at the same time, the weird, funny, sad, encouraging, and dispiriting events that accompany the pursuit of saving animals from death.

Dogs and the recession

2008-11-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

Dogs, unlike people, have simple needs. Food, water and TLC. Those of us bemoaning our troubles in this economic roller-coaster might learn a thing or two from them. Most dogs are probably secretly happy about the recession, which is covered in mind-numbing detail on the many TVs that are left on to keep the dogs company while their owners claim to be doing important human things.

Why are they happy?

Well

1) Their human families are spending more time at home with the dog because they are either out of work, or cannot afford to go out as much.

2) That slightly cheaper food that you have been buying is exactly the same stuff you were giving him before, just in a less expensive packaging. They don't care!

3) Single guys with dogs can't afford to go to bars and clubs to meet girls so they take the dog to the park.

4) Since you don't have a job and don't dress up every day, the dog can snuggle up to you without being told "Get off my clean Khakis you **** dog!"

5) You can't afford the $ 80 to get the dog cut and groomed to look like a playdoll, so he can just roll in the mud and grass without fear of the mad groomer who can't control the shears, and always nips the ear and shaves the private bits too close!

One BAD result of the recession is some people lose houses and cannot keep their pets. At the Rescue, where we have found new homes for over 5000 dogs and cats in the last 7 years, we get calls from just such people. Very sad. Some of the people now need food, water and TLC.

Donations for charities, like our rescue, suffer in these times also. We get a lot of applause but never enough money !

Of course, the dogs and cats don't care !!!! They still get food, water and TLC. They look at you as if to say " Hey! What's your problem? I'm OK so why aren't you?"

Sometimes it really is a dog's life ( or a cat's...they REALLY don't care whether you are rich or broke !)