We are a husband and wife team that have devoted our lives to animals. I am a veterinary technician and have been doing rescue and fostering since I was 16. We live on a farm in North Salem and have been rescuing animals for years as part of our farm sanctuary and recently decided to make it official so we can expand and help more animals and adopt out animals to the right home if applicable.
We have horses, Goats, Sheep, Chickens, Ducks, Cats, Dogs, Guinea Pigs and a gecko. While we have been taking in rescues for years, we began this venture with our first sad, neglected guinea pig, Nibbles- his story was the same as most--kid wants guinea pig, promises to take care of it, parents get guinea pig, kid loses interest, parents don't want to take care of it, guinea pig sits alone and neglected in a dirty cage until they finally decide to give it away. We adopted a friend for him, but as un neutered males, they did not get along and instead lived in a duplex so they didn't have to share. My daughter loved her Guinea Pigs so much, she got a female at her father's house. I knew it wouldn't be long before we would end up taking her. Now we had 3 Guinea Pigs that could not be housed together and our house began to look like a pet store and the piggies looked like they were in prison. We ended up building a Coop outside for them with an edible garden, had the boys neutered and put them all together and it was so heartwarming to see how happy they were! As soon as I mentioned what we were doing to a few people, we took in 6 Guinea Pigs within a week. It was then that we realized what a need there is for a guinea pig rescue, as they are so often forgotten and are purchased and discarded like barbie dolls. We also have been taking chickens and ducks and are putting in a quarantine barn for larger barnyard animals.
So there it began... we Primarily take critical care, special needs, senior and pregnant animals as I am a retired technician and have the experience to care for them that many other rescues do not. Those animals that are unadoptable have a forever home in our sanctuary, and those that are adoptable stay until we find the absolute perfect home for them.
We are currently up to 16 Sanctuary Guinea Pigs and 14 ICU Guinea Pigs, and have taken in 14 ducklings, a rooster and a cat with premature kittens that she rejected since we began our venture (aside from the 53 animals we rescued prior to becoming incorporated). I just need a better way to keep track of everyone and I have tried a couple of different software programs and am not happy with them.
Adoption application, if approved home visit or photos of living environment for pet; contracts to ensure all members of the household want the animal, they are to provide proper animal care and are to return animal only to us if there is ever a problem. Adopter must be ok with periodic check-ins for duration of animals life.
