Home Sweet Home Penny!

Our newest rescue arrived today via Bob & Sherry from Ruby Ranch pig sanctuary. Penelope was the product of a broken home. She sustained a severe front leg injury after being trampled by a horse over a year ago.

We learned about her about a week ago & offered up a home. "Penny" is a (approx)3 year old potbellied pig. She arrived this afternoon & settled in nicely. I always feel so bad for them as she is leaving the only home she has ever known....good or bad. It will take some time for her to feel comfortable .

Penny is in one of the stalls in the barn for now but will move out to Katie's old house in the spring so she can have free access to the outdoors. She ate , took treats & is all buried in the blankets & straw as I type this. Penny will do just fine at Snooters.....we will care for & love her always!

Welcome Penny!!!

It is COLD here....

Okay, I know it is January in Canada so I should not be surprised at the -20c temps BUT I still hate it !!!

I worry about the gang outside. They all have heated houses but I still worry about them all.

Today was one of those cold but bright blue sky days....took some pics & did enjoy the time spent outside with everyone.

On the "up" side winter is almost half over!

Now for my pet peeve (one of many!) I cannot believe how many of those stupid "Canada Goose Coats" I have been seeing. Young, old, male, female , if doesn't seem to matter. I really thought (foolishly) that people had evolved & were actually not wearing fur because of the cruelty. I guess not, as these ugly coats are everywhere. For those of you who are not familiar with them.....they are goose down filled coats with coyote trim on the hoods. The cost of wearing these ugly things is between $300 - $600 depending on the style. Sadly, they are very trendy.

I guess people just do not think about the geese being plucked alive & the coyotes in traps suffering sometimes for days before the trapper makes his way back to check. They DON'T but they SHOULD !! I always give a sneer & dirty look as they walk by....sometimes saying out loud how horrible it is to wear something so cruel. I think I might make up some pamphlets to hand out to these ignorant people.

Stepping off my soapbox now....

Please share...

Friends missing dog...

http://939bobfm.blogspot.com/2011/01/missing-bernese-mountain-dog-please.html

New Year...New Hopes....

Let me first start off with a very Happy New Year to all !!! Wishing you all a happy, healthy 2011 !!!

I want to thank everyone who supports us physically, financially & most importantly emotionally.

This year has seen many changes to Snooters. We had our first ( & second) volunteer days.We have set up a web site & have been fundraising with much success! We have met some wonderful people who share our values....who we now call, with pride, "friends" !

We have lost a few of our animal family....the (first) rescue hens, our beloved old gal" Katie" (pig), our new hen "Tiny" & our very loved puppy mill rescue Chi/pug "Puggles".....losing loved ones is always hard & we treasure their memories forever. The animal rights community lost a very special member in February of 2010. Ashli Taylor (who our calf "Ashli" is named after) was killed in a truck accident. Ashli was a very special girl who I only met twice but immediately connected with. Ashli loved "Snooters" (although she never had the chance to visit)....I do feel she "visits" in a different way now .....I believe she watches over us .

In 2010 we saw the rescue of "Ashli & Norman", the calf's who came to us at 3 days old from the cruel dairy industry ...they are such wonderful additions to the sanctuary! We now have 3 more rescue battery cage hens who are doing so well. The first project of 2011 is to build them an awesome hen house (thanks to Ashley Archer who raised $1000 for the cause!) We will welcome 3 sheep from a research facility in Feb 2011...we look forward to meeting these gals & giving them their forever homes.

I attended many gatherings(as many as I can) for animal rights & continue to spread the word everyday to all who will lend an ear (& even to those who won't !!!)

All in all 2010 was a good year & we have high hopes for 2011 !!

Thank you everyone! We look forward to meeting new friends this year & connecting with "old" ones too!

Again, Happy New Year to ALL ....2 & 4 legged creatures!!!

XXXOOO

Dear little Puggles.....

I am writing this a day early because I know what a mess I will be tomorrow.

Little Puggles (chi/pug) is very old (estimated to be about 14-16 yrs old). Puggles came to us in November of 2009 via a rescue we know. Puggles was brought in from the USA (Ohio) & came from a life of breeding in a puppy mill. When Puggles first arrived we determined she had very little sight, was not house trained and she would continuously walk in circles the size of a small cage .

Puggles LOVES to be cuddled & soon began sleeping in the bed with me....she would awake in the night & wiggle around in the bed until she found me....then I would get a little "lick/kiss" & off to sleep she would go. She always wants to be close.

I have never had a small dog before & she has been such a joy in our lives. I really don't know what I will do without her as we have been so close for the short time we had together.

Over the past few months she has been failing. We have had her at the vet several times but this is just a case of having a hard life & being old. She is now unable to walk, control her urine & yesterday stopped eating. It is time & we both know it. I so wanted to have her with us over Christmas but realized I was doing this more for me than her & she is suffering. So, tomorrow(Thursday) we will say good-bye.

As much as this is killing me, I would do it all again in a heartbeat...one year with this little dog has meant so much ....to her , but mostly to me.

R.I.P Puggles, I will see you again....

Winter is here....

The ground is covered in snow,the temps are in the minus range, the pond frozen & the hydro meter is spinning in delight from all the heat being on in the animals houses!

I had forgotten how much longer the chores take in the winter! Oh well , only 4 months to go !!

Some sad news here at Snooters. The other day I went in the barn for morning chores & found one of the chicken ladies, "Tiny", sprawled out on the cold floor far from the heat lamp. She was unconscious , I thought dead, until I saw her head move slightly as I picked her up. She was cold & stiff but alive. I ran her over to the house , put her in my laundry basket with warm blankets and a hot pack & placed her in front of the fire. Within a couple of hours she was lifting her head to look around....I was so happy she was alive!!! I gave her some warm sweet water in a syringe & let her rest by the fire. She seemed to take a turn for the worse at supper time & became more & more lethargic. Perhaps she was sick from something else & this is why she collapsed away from the warmth in the barn??

I picked her up all warmly wrapped in a blanket & cuddled her telling her how beautiful she is.

At that moment she closed her eyes and took her last breath. At least she died warm & loved. RIP dear Tiny...

2011 Calendars on Sale

Hi everyone,

Our Snooters 2011 calendars are on sale now! They feature a different Snooters gang member & animal rights saying on each month.

$15 each or 2/$25 (shipping included)

See our web site merchandise page www.snootersforeverhome.com or email me at snootersforeverhome@gmail.com to order. Payment via Paypal or cheque (email me for our mailing addy).

I will need your mailing address too!

Thank you for your support!

Volunteer Day # 2

Yesterday's weather could not have been better....warm, sunny, mild breeze!

We welcomed about 30 people to Snooters for our 2nd volunteer day. This one was getting the sanctuary ready for winter.

Everyone was hard at work doing pig house cleaning (dusty/dirty job!), gravel moving (heaving work!), scraping & painting fence posts (messy!), poop scooping (smelly!) , sealing cracks in the calfs house, cleaning out the horse lean-to (hard work!), scrubbing troughs, horse grooming (a favorite, it seems!).

The jobs were done quickly thanks to the hard workers & we all relaxed to a hot vegan lunch! It was so nice to meet new people & see "old" friends!

We cannot thank all of you enough for supporting us both physically, emotionally & financially!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts....

September/October news

Things have been busy over the past several weeks. We are getting ready for winter here at Snooters. A volunteer day is planned for Saturday October 23rd 10am-5pm....come out & join us !
This past week has been filled with sadness in Toronto & surrounding area. First a livestock truck with a careless driver flipped over in Orangeville trapping 736 (yes, 736 !!) young pigs. Over half died or were euthanized on the scene. In less than a week another truck loaded with over 200 pigs took the Toronto 427 hwy ramp too fast & flipped killing 89 pigs....the "lucky" survivors were loaded into another truck & continued their journey to the slaughterhouse. The entire situation just makes me SO angry!
A friend arranged a candle light memorial on the Orangeville accident site & a handful of us attended to grieve for these poor little souls.
The following day was the nationwide anti horse slaughter protest. Bill C-544 is being tabled soon to stop the slaughter of horses for human consumption in Canada. It was a good turn out with media attention. At least 6 restaurants in Toronto serve horse meat on their menu! We focused on the "Beer Bistro" King St east & "La Palette" in Kensington market. Fingers crossed this bill is passed!
Our little Puggles (pug/chi puppy mill breeding dog) has not been well. We had her at the vet & with some special food & antibiotics she is holding her own. It is difficult because at her advanced age (estimated to be 14+ years) & poor health (from the puppy mill life) she is very fragile. We will continue to give her all the love & comfort she needs!

**UPDATE** Puggles is doing MUCH better...eating well & back to her "old" (literally !) self ;)

Veggie Food Fair , Baby peachicks & new signs!

First off I totally forgot to mention we have 3 little peachicks here at Snooters! They are very cute & I love to watch them learning from their Moms & the others in the flock! One little one is very special as he is all white!! I am very excited to see what he looks like as an adult in the future!

This past weekend Snooters was at the Toronto Vegetarian Assc Food Fair here in Toronto. The TVA kindly donated a table for 5 Ontario sanctuaries to share. Our time was on Saturday from noon to 3pm. I met so many great like minded people & saw many friends who have visited the sanctuary in the past. We sold some mugs, picture note cards & some beautiful hand drawn/painted cards that Kristi made for us to sell. Also, a special mention to Anne who baked some yummy vegan cupcakes to sell with the proceeds being split between the sanctuaries.

It was such a great event with lots of products to buy & sample. Great food & wonderful speakers! This is an event I will not miss every September!

We had Ashli & Norman's donated name signs delivered yesterday....they look great & the boys approve! Thank you to Gary & Courtney!

Animal news...& misc stuff!

Wow, I haven't posted anything for 6 weeks, where does the time go? Here it is September, summer gone & winter approaching.

All is well here on the farm. Ashli & Norman, the dairy bull calfs, are growing like weeds. They are off their bottles & on grain /hay now ! Such handsome boys they are!

We have 4 new rescue hens (from a battery cage operation). They are bald, with short cut beaks & scared to death of people when they first arrived. After just one week they are much better and actually come over to me when I go in their stall. We are planning to build them a coop & fenced in area before spring. We have named them "big Bertha", "Tiny" & "Laverne & Shirley".

We have welcomed lots of visitors in the past month to meet & learn about Snooters. Next weekend (Sept 10-12) is the Toronto Vegetarian Fair at Harbourfront in Toronto. The TVA has kindly offered us a table to share with other Ontario sanctuaries. We will be there on Saturday the 11th from 12-3pm...come by to say hello (& perhaps buy a mug or note cards to help support the animal care!)

Yesterday we had friends over. Kim came to help with hooves. She is the great "pig flipper" & Brian does the trimming as I hold legs & help anyway I can. The pigs hate it but it has to be done yearly. Thank goodness it is over until next year now! Thanks Kim!!

Kristi & Niall came over after & brought me the most precious gift....a portrait Niall did of our Trixie! Both Brian & I were teary when we saw it. We still miss her so much. It is a gift I will treasure always.

Feeding time so I better run...it is a good day when everyone eats well !!

Snooters News

A few new things happening here at Snooters!

Our 11 yr old Lab/Rottie "Riley" had his knee (ACL) surgery done. It went very well & he is recouping nicely at home. Poor Riley has 5 weeks of staying in the house & only going out for pee/poops on leash....he is used to running about so this is not easy for him !

Last weekend we saw our first pee chicks born (other than poor little Peeper )....Mama peahen was marching around showing them off....2 very cute little ones!

The families of Canada Geese are getting bigger. One family (the first ones born) did their first fly around the pond today....honking in delight !

It has been very hot here for the past few weeks....the animals all lay low to stay cool. The pigs lounge in the mud wallows & cool forest. The calfs & horses lay under the trees & enjoy when I give them a spray of cool water.

We have a busy week of visitors coming up so everyone will get lots of attention!

Ashli & Norman move in...

Today was move in day for Ashli & Norman the rescued bull calfs! Ashli arrived here about 9 weeks ago & Norman about 6 weeks, rescued from the dairy industry. On their way to slaughter at 2 days of age they now have their forever home here at Snooters!

The paddock fenced area & shelter were built last month & we were just waiting for them to recoup from their castration & horn debudding. All is done & in they moved this morning!

We walked them over to the new area & they ran, jumped and ran some more for about 15 mins! They seem to like it just fine! I tucked them in & closed the door about 830pm while they munched on some grain & fresh water. The area looks great from all the volunteers painting the fence & shelter last month...thank you!

I told them they never have to move again!!

R.I.P Peeper....

A week ago today I found an abandoned peachick in the barn. He was not walking well & seemed small even for a newly hatched chick. I placed him back with Mom & she proceeded to attack him. An hour later I tried again with the same out come.

Little Peeper came into the house with me! He was so cute! We kept him warm with a heat pad , crate with blankets & straw . He drank warm water & was gaining strength ever minute. By the next morning he was running around keeping me in his sight every second ...I was now his mother! While doing chores I would wrap him up in a towel & place him down my top...a little awkward but it worked!

Peepers also loved to follow our little blind chi/pug cross ....they would march around the bedroom for hours & finally both lay down & fall asleep in the sun.

Peepers was learning to eat (Peachicks eat on their own by day 2). He would eat small amounts & I would supplement with vitamins etc in his water. He was doing so well I was really not worried at all !

By day four Peepers appeared weak...sleeping far more than normal. We increased the frequency of his feedings & added protein, pedalyte etc to his water. Everyday he was worse & we felt so helpless.

Last night I had him sleep with me (his crate beside the bed). I told him I loved him, gave him a kiss & put him to bed at 11pm....he "peeped" back at me.

I woke up at 2 am to feed him & he had died...

Peepers is buried in our animal memorial garden beside L.B. (the bunny).

Only one week with him & he stole my heart...I miss the little fella.

R.I.P. Peepers.... XXXOOO

First Ever Volunteer Day

Yesterday was our very first volunteer day here at Snooters.The weather called for thunder storms & 20mm of rain but it stayed beautiful with only a few sprinkles at the end of the day! I have to admit I was totally shocked at the great response to our Facebook event invite. We ended up with 68 people here helping out! 90 % of them I had never met in person.

A ton of work got done in a very short period of time....lots of painting & several tons (& I really mean tons) of gravel moved into Poppy/Flossy paddock. Pig houses cleaned, poop scooped, even weeds pulled & of course the horses bathed & groomed!

Everyone arrived about 10am to coffee/tea/juice & vegan pastries from the Danish Vegan Bakery (who so kindly delivered & discounted costs for us!) We all got started about 11am & everything was done by 2pm! A hot vegan lunch was served & everyone got to chill out, visit with each other & all the animals.

Everyone loved seeing the pigs in the mud wallows, the peafowl walking about, the house piggies on the porch , the horses all clean & shining but mostly the calf's ! Ashli & Norman were the best ambassadors....they LOVE to be petted! I think there are about a 1000 photos floating around of them in peoples cameras!

It is so nice to see people really connect with farm animals like this.

I really want to thank everyone who came out, both new & old friends!

Special thanks to Mary, Mark, Judy, Kim , Kristi, Niall, Bob & Sherry (who have their own pig sanctuary "Ruby Ranch" but came to help) Vanessa, my daughter Angela, granddaughter Alyssa, & son-in-law Dony who did a ton of work.

Thank you !!!! Next year anyone???!!

Norman is here...

Norman the Jersey bull calf arrived 2 days ago! Little Norman was very young & still unsteady on his legs. Taken from his Mom at birth he was still calling out for her when he arrived here. It was a very hot day & we cooled him down in the stall. He refused to eat or drink anything for the first 24 hours but is doing just fine now on his bottle!

Norman & Ashli met and seemed happy to see each other. As the days have gone by they are becoming more & more bonded....playing & grooming each other !

The calls for his Mom have stopped & he is settling in to his forever home quickly!

We hope to have their paddock & shelter built in the next few weeks so they can venture out to play 24/7.

What beautiful creatures these calfs are....smart, loving & very funny ! Hard to believe they are sold for mere dollars....how can any life be worth so little?? These are 2 of millions who are discarded daily for being born male in an industry who enslaves the females for their milk. They all suffer.

Ashli & Norman will live their lives free from worry. We will give them food, shelter & most of all LOVE !!

Ashli's video

www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=441921400128&ref=mf

Welcome Ashli to the family!

Last week we welcomed our first bovine to the Snooters family!

Ashli is named after a friend who dedicated her life to animal welfare. She was tragically killed in a motor vehicle accident last February. I said our next rescue animal would carry her name.

Ashli is a little boy but in soap opera world "Ashli" is a great boys name! He certainly seems to like it!

Our little guy came from a rescue, which is not at all unusual....most every male calf born to a dairy enslaved Mom will be sent for veal slaughter...so sad but true. So many people do not eat veal because of the cruelty but forget about the dairy industry.

Little Ashli came here last Friday with his umbilical cord still attached (dried/but still attached), I was told he is probably 2-3 days old. We were suppose to get 2 calves but sometimes things change & no one can answer why. Hopefully we will get Ashli a friend very soon.

He is the sweetie little man . Friendly, gentle, funny & so curious about the world. For now he is living in the barn & being bottle fed but I hope to get him into a paddock soon. We will be having to fence off another section & build a "house/lean-to" for him before fall.

Welcome Ashli, we love you already !!!

PS... the tag in his ear will be removed SOON !

The Hens...

This is a difficult post to write....I have been putting it off long enough.

About 3 weeks ago I was writing how the hens enjoyed their first day in the sun. Over the next several days they were so excited to go out & peck around with their new found freedom.

On Wednesday almost 3 weeks ago I was home & let them out as usual. I went to check on them about 11am & they were pecking & scratching 50 feet or so away from the barn.

At 3pm I went over again & they were no where to be seen. I spend hours walking the property calling (they would usually come running to my stupid chicken call !) & looking for any sign (good or bad) of their whereabouts....nothing.

I did up signs/picture & put them in every mailbox within a km of here as well as in our local food store. I had a feeling I would look out & they would just be there again. Obviously my "feeling" was wrong. They have still not returned.

It is so strange they all disappeared together. The only thing I can think is they wandered into the forest (quite a walk for them) & got lost .Unfortunately there are predators in the forest too.

I feel so guilty we did not pen them up. I honestly thought (& was told) they would stay close to the barn on their own. These are our first chickens & my ignorance cost them their lives....I am so sorry girls. I hope you enjoyed your life free from a cage for the short time you had here. I so miss your songs in the morning , we loved having you here.

We hope to rescue more battery hens soon & will do things very differently.

a young animal advocate....

This past week I received an email from a girl about placing 4 chicks. I called the phone number & asked for her by name ( I will call her "A")....this young voice (12 yrs old) came on the phone & explained to me how her class had 4 chicks they had raised that were to be turned back over to the "producer" on Monday. She wanted them to live & was trying to find a forever home for them. I told her I would gladly take them & we would make arrangements this weekend to get them here....she was so excited (as was I !)

I came home from work yesterday to a phone message from this young girls mother."A" was too upset to talk. Apparently a mother of one of the classmates was the one who arranged the chicks to be in the classroom in the first place. They were to be returned to the producer after they had grown. The other mother got wind that they were trying to find a home at a sanctuary for the chicks & quickly got them back to the producer before we could arrange things! My God, we would have paid the few dollars the producer thinks they are worth to save them. What is wrong with people?? What a horrible example for her own child in the classroom!

Poor "A" was very upset (as was her Mother). What a thoughtful, compassion young lady "A" is. I told her she will make an awesome animal advocate/activist one day! She is going to join us at the Toronto Vegetarian Association parade in Toronto on June 5th & help me hand out "Snooters" pamphlets!

A failed rescue ;( but a found friend !