Hello to all our old friends and new! Many of you have followed our journey for years and know that it has always been my main focus and goal to provide sanctuary for mistreated and abused exotic animals and indigenous wildlife. With your help, we've been able to accomplish that on a small scale. Many animals have passed through our doors over the years and have either found safe places or have been released back into the wild. I'm so thankful for the support you've already provided that has allowed us to house and care for those animals! Since 2024 we have introduced many new residents to the sanctuary. What started as just three foxes and a few small animals has suddenly turned into a menagerie of residential non-releasable wildlife with many more looking for placement every day. Because of the number of new residents and the many others that will need placement in the future, we are looking to expand! This fundraiser is a long-term goal that I am not certain we will reach, but every donation will help aid in our expansion efforts. Currently, we are raising funds to expand all of the resident enclosures. With the arrival of the three new fur farm rescue fox kits, Blink, Valley, and Lake, two of our main fox enclosures need to be expanded by at least double their size. The pannels we use to build these enclosures can be costly and for the overhaul of all of our enclosures, we are expected to spend a minimum of $20,000. Any leftover funds or fencing would be used to create new enclosures for future residents or foster animals that may just be passing through. It is a priority for us to have at least 2-3 spare enclosures for any emergency intakes. This initial project will also help to repair the damage that was done to our perimeter fence due to a tree falling after a bad storm a few months ago. Once our enclosure overhaul is complete I plan to excavate two small wooded areas of our property to provide new open runs for the foxes. We currently have a 2-acre fenced enrichment area that they adore, but we quickly realized after its completion that this area was too large and made it nearly impossible to retrieve animals when they needed to be contained for the night or brought back to their main enclosures for meals. This area also could only be used for animals that already trusted people. We cannot use this area for intakes that are more skittish and do not willing to approach humans, since they would be unable to be captured once they are in such a large area. Our two new enrichment areas would be much more intimate and more of a natural environment for the wildlife intakes since they will be in a wooded area instead of a large open yard. This will provide them with the ability to dig dens using tree roots as support, forage in the leaf matter, and lay peacefully in the shade of trees. Since this area will be smaller we will be able to use this for any future guests and volunteers to get a chance to gain the trust of our residents while they are in an enrichment area, which will provide the animals with more comfort than having strangers in their safe territory- their main enclosure. The excavation of the underbrush, the 6-ft fencing with lean-ins, and the 2-ft dig guard that will need to be buried to prevent animals from digging out is projected to cost nearly $30,000 or more. Lastly, if enough funds are raised we would like to build a new outbuilding. All animal food prep and medical care is currently taking place in our human kitchen, which is not ideal. A new outbuilding would be used for an animal-focused kitchen and a medical area where we can thaw and prep raw meat, have additional food storage so that we can buy fresh produce in bulk, and pre-prepare and store frozen enrichment treats among many other things. This building could also be used for medical recovery cages in a temperature-controlled area so that any animals recovering from surgery or illness could be in safe confinement while they heal. While I plan to remain a mico-sanctuary to ensure that all of the resident animals receive the time and attention they need to thrive this expansion will provide the ability to take in more special cases. My goal is to focus our efforts on special needs non-releasable wildlife like "Mort", the opossum with scoliosis or Fig who has many physical disabilities due to his mistreatment and poor breeding while on a fur farm. We have taken steps to further our licensing and to be able to do more one-on-one education with the public. If all goes well, we hope that after this expansion we can begin allowing small amounts of guests to visit our sanctuary as well as allow volunteers which will provide community service hours for students or credit hours for those looking to obtain licensing of their own and continue rescue efforts among wildlife lovers. Thank you all so much for your support, you have made such a difference in the lives of these animals and many more!
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