It was hard not to stop and just take minute as I glanced over at these majestic horses looking so at peace. A mom & foal enjoying each other and the safety of the rescue as I drove up to the gates of In The Woods Animal Rescue today.
Every single animal that is here, at this no kill rescue comes with their own story of neglect, inconvenience, abuse or just “they aren’t puppies or kittens anymore. Time to get rid of them”.
As Sheryl (there are 2 (S) Cheryl’s at the rescue who work endless/ selfless hard hours for these animals) walked me around the rescue today and introduced me to well over 30 cats of all ages, and double that in dogs. You might have noticed the love I received on my pants in the picture from so many of these sweet souls. She began to tell me a few stories from each.
As I pulled up I noticed the cutest pink cat house with a large Snoopy cut out on it. I asked if it was ok if I went in and said hello to the 6 teenage cats that have established living quarters there. Sheryl said absolutely, and I made my way in. All but one came up to say hello, and the cutest calico looking cat decided my shoulders would be a great place to lounge as he purred and enjoyed his ride as I walked around playing with the other cats.
Sheryl then took me to both indoor and outdoor pens where I got to see so many dogs from all over. As well as these 3 beautiful little 8 month old puppies from Drayton Valley that were heading to get euthanized, as no shelters in their area had room for them.
Sheryl then pointed out this beautiful couple year old German Shepard all the way from Ontario that was dropped off by a guy in training to be a policeman. He quit the academy, and he got together with a girl that made him decide on either her or the dog. The kicker with this sweet dog is that he is police trained to attack. So his circumstances to get adopted would have to be extremely special. As he’s trained to be extremely aggressive and protective over one person. And that person gave him the boot at a shelter after training him to be the way he is. Not this sweet boys fault at all.
We continued into the second indoor/ outdoor cat house that is the latest addition to the shelter, thanks to a large amount of fundraising that was done. There I had met the most beautiful pleasantly plump orange guy, that previously lived in a family’s garage. They thought that this guy was a gal and was pregnant, because he was getting fat and didn’t want to deal with kittens, so they dropped him off at the shelter. And Another older beauty come all of the way from Montreal. Flew out with her owners that had her for years. When they moved to Alberta, they fell in love with an apartment that didn’t allow cats. So this poor beautiful girl got the boot and ended up at the shelter. So many stories, with pretty much the same theme. Humans can be so cruel. Thank goodness this world is blessed with people like the C/Sheryl’s at In The Woods. The littlest steps can make a huge difference. You don’t need tons of money, time is one of the most generous gifts you can give, especially at places like In The Woods. Volunteering a few hours or or half day/ day really does help these animals and the people trying to make a difference for them.
I have their link on my website, if you want to know more about them or to send in a donation. Today I called Sheryl, and I asked her what they were need of. She told me that they are trying to put some weight on these smaller cats, so wet food was the main thing that they needed. It changes from week to week I’m sure. :) I’m very proud to support this organization, who continues to fight and make a difference for all animals. No one gets turned away. 🤍
