The Sanctuary was founded on the belief that the animals in our community are in our care. That care means a responsibility for the safety, well-being, and quality of life for all animals.
Meet Some of the Sanctuary’s Wonderful Residents!
Charlie the crow
Charlie is the perfect example of why Sara’s Sanctuary was created and what we strive to achieve with all the animals that find their way to our door. With patience, persistence and a lot of love, almost every one of them can have a very happy story, too!
Charlie came to us from a wonderful, caring rescuer in California who had been trying to raise him in his kitchen for over a year. Although, he obviously loved this crow, he knew Charlie needed more specialized care than he would be able to provide. So when he moved here, he brought him to our Sanctuary for his second chance at a better life. Charlie had no tail or wing feathers. We called him “Bumble Bee” because he would try and fly, and would drop back down, and land up side down. He couldn’t even balance himself upright on a perch. We needed to build a cage that would help to keep him from continually falling on his back. As time went on, we added different sized ladders for him to learn to balance himself on. Eventually he was able to walk down onto the grass when he was strong enough and finally conquered his fear of open spaces.
Charlie also had developed what’s known as “scissor beak”. This required his food to be cut into very small pieces and hand fed to him three times a day. He also needed supplements to help his feathers grow back without breaking off. We massaged his beak twice a day to train his beak to move back into a normal position. We were sure that Charlie would remain in captivity for the rest of his life, but after two years, all of his feathers were fully restored and he was able to eat completely by himself. Why we don’t know. He was moved to a flight pen to allow him to gain enough wing strength to learn to fly again. Another crow that had been rescued and released on our property began coming to Charlie’s enclosure and eventually befriended Charlie through the enclosure wire. We cut a hole to see if Charlie showed any interest in flying free. One incredible day, after several weeks, he finally chose to pair with the other crow and flew out of the enclosure to be free on the property. That was two years ago and they are both still together. Every day they come to remind me to put out the fresh food they have grown to expect. They, and their family, are wonderfully protective of the Sanctuary and show that by chasing away the hawks that frequently come here wanting to feed on other birds and squirrels living on our property.
After seeing the unbelievable and horrendous things humans either do or allow to happen to animals, this is the perfect story. This is exactly why we work so hard to provide everything possible to ensure a happy ending for all our animals and birds who have and will call Sara’s Sanctuary their safe haven.
Jack the raccoon
Jack a wonderful big boy, who will live out his life as part of our family here at Sara’s Sanctuary. Jack ultimately ended up with us after we received a call 5 years ago from a woman in California asking for help. She did not know what to do, or who to turn too. Like so many people we meet, she had always dreamed of hand-raising a baby raccoon to become a pet that could live loose in her house and that could interact with her, thinking they were like a dog. When she found you could buy babies on the internet, she quickly arranged to purchased this little boy from a breeder. As most stories go with purchasing exotic animals, this tiny little raccoon grew up, and became very strong when he reached adolescence . He quickly got way out of control, as she could no longer handle him, she was forced to cage him outside in a very tiny kennel. Jacks owner, realized she could not provide a quality of life as she had intended and wanted him to live the rest of his life as happily as possible in the necessary captive environment.
Jack is considered “exotic wildlife” as he was not born in the wild. Jack has settled in here now, and is a very happy satisfied raccoon. He resides in a large enclosure with lots of toys, a pool and lots of room to climb and play. We wish that he have had the opportunity to live a full long life in the wild as nature intended. This is a good example why we humans should adopt only shelter animals (dogs and cats) that are waiting for loving homes. Please never think of purchasing a raccoon from a breeder which keeps them in the business of selling babies and creating situations like Jack’s.
Once humans provide food and familiarity to any wild animal as babies, they lose their ability to learn to survive in the wild
Rocky the raccoon
Rocky also came to live here at the Sanctuary from a private owner who purchased him. Again, these people had always loved seeing the raccoons in the wild and when they found they could actually buy one from a breeder, they could not wait to buy! They quickly found that a growing, maturing, innately wild raccoon will become very hard to handle and not be suitable to be kept loose in a home, even if hand-raised from a very small baby by humans. We were contacted and asked to help. Rocky will spend the rest of his life here enjoying the most freedom he can have for captivity. Unfortunately, once a wild animal is fed and raised for a period of time in captivity, it does not have the instincts remaining to forage for food nor the capability to survive in the wild because of the human intervention/interruption. So, although raccoons can be gentle and sweet with humans, and other animals, they are never a good options for domesticating as pets and we humans are only doing them a huge disservice by assuming they need us.
Most babies found in the wild have not been abandoned but are temporarily separated from their mother who has been scared off and will return for her baby when people leave. If a baby is truly abandoned because it’s mother has been hit by a car or killed, the only good option, with a good outcome, is for it to be taken it a licensed wildlife center in your area where, in most cases, it can be rehabilitated correctly and returned to the wild to live the life it was born to have.
BOB THE EMU
Bob was rescued from a padlocked 8′ x 10′ cage in which he had lived for fourteen years. He had never been outside that cage in all those years. When he was rescued, he was deep in his own feces. His body was plastered with dried feces, he had open sores on his belly, edema in his legs, and a respiratory infection. He could hardly stand and was literally at death’s door.
Bob was taken from an horrific environment. A local independent zoo veterinarian, who examined Bob, held out little hope for his survival. This veterinarian thought Bob would not regain the use of his legs and advised us to put him down. This was not an option; he deserved our best effort to get him walking. We dedicated many hours to his rehabilitation. Against all odds, Bob survived. Not only did he survive, he is now thriving.
We believed that Bob should be given that chance in life to feel grass under his feet. Bob fully recovered and has been thiving on acres of open ground, like any normal emu should be. It took many months of rehabililiation to get him what he deserved. Bob is very old now, past his life expectancy. But every day that Bob is with us, we feel so very lucky to have given him this opporunity to thrive in love, peace and freedom from being caged.
Happily, Sara’s Sanctuary has become Bob’s forever home. Consider sponsoring Bob, knowing that you are helping a wonderful animal live his life in a natural, comfortable and caring environment.
MILLY THE MALLARD
Milly is a sweet little mallard hen who is the queen of our flight pen. In 1990, we were contacted about a little duck in desperate need of help. She was found in a garbage can outside a restaurant. She was missing her eyes. She was brought to the Sanctuary and where her wounds were healed. She now gets around with the help of a chicken who was also cruelly injured by its former owner. Milly has thrived and has reached the age of 20, way past her life expectancy. She loves to swim in the pond and sit in the sun. She’s our little warrior and we love her so much!
PIERRE THE DUCK
Pierre was rescued as a baby and came to the sanctuary because he was slated to be killed. He couldn’t stand or walk because he had some sort of neurological damage: he would flip over, and his head was twisted unnaturally to one side.
Terri constructed a special support device similar to a baby’s Johnny Jump-Up for Pierre that allowed him to stand upright, be fed upright, and start moving his legs so that his muscles could start developing. After four months of continuous therapy and muscle stimulation, Pierre was able to remain upright on his own and started walking.
He is now completely recovered and even has attracted the attention of a lovely female duck. This is truly a miraculous recovery.
Sponsoring Pierre will allow him to live out his life at the sanctuary in comfort and happiness.
SPINNER THE CHICKEN
Spinner, a chicken with seizure problems, was a former kindergarten pet who was dropped on his head. Spinner, who needs to be held several times a day to reduce the incidence of seizures, loves to have his feet massaged!
Please, teachers and parents – animals should not be in a class room and used for a school project!
JANE THE PIGEON
Jane, the pigeon was found on the Microsoft campus with two broken legs. Terri’s regular vet was on vacation, so she had another vet look at the bird. His immediate reaction was the bird was not worth saving, and he wanted to destroy it by ringing its neck at that instant.
Terri refused to allow him to do that because she knew the bird was worth saving. She tended to the bird’s injuries by setting its broken legs and nursing it back to health. Jane is now flying, walking, and perching normally and is happily living in the Sanctuary.
This was the Beginning a Better Life for This Wonderful Serval. We were called to help with a Serval that the owners could no longer care for. This little girl, was being kept in a back yard in a busy crowded neighborhood. Her enclosure was a very unsecured small pen, put together with small zip ties and wild bird netting. The owner told us that this cat probably had an abscess and that they had done nothing to treat it. When we first set eyes on her, she was huddled in a corner gnawing on a growth on her leg. It was obvious that it was not an abscess, but a very large tumor.
She had not received any medical care for this very painful, long-time growth. This owner knew it was illegal to own this type of exotic cat in the State of Washington without a USDA license. Probably one of the reasons that he did not seek medical help for her.
When we picked this serval up, we immediately took her to our vet and had her health issues assessed. The tumor was removed the next day and the pathology report came back, it was a malignant tumor – (Chondrosarcoma). This is a very aggressive form of cancer. Although she is in no pain now, we will have to wait to see if she will be able to keep the leg, or even survive this cancer. Because this tumor was left for such a long time, it might have already metastasized to her lungs.
She is a very happy kitty now! She is experiencing things everyday that are new and exciting – especially with the other animals around her. Only a few days after surgery, she is climbing on platforms, to levels of 15′. She want’s to pounce on her prey and she is getting the diet that she has needed all these years. Jess is already a different serval compared to when we first met her. These cats so deserve to live in the wild, not be somone’s pet in their powder room or garage.