Twin Heart Animal Sanctuary

Non-Profit Society

This is Sage, an incredibly sweet, 28 year old, half-blind pony (just after a good roll).

She and her friend, Ryah, lived at the same place. Sage had a human child who loved her, but for some reason, the parents decided it was time for her to leave. I suspect it was because of her medical conditions.

Ryah had a foal and they decided to keep the baby and get rid of the mother.

And where they sent them was straight to the kill pen. The next stop was to be the abject terror of the slaughterhouse.

Someone sent our sanctuary their photo and, although I had not planned on getting 2 more horses, the thought of this little mare, who the child must've loved, and her buddy, Ryah, who was torn from her baby's side, only to be sent to the slaughterhouse, was more than I could handle.

It was the old, once I knew about them, I couldn't "unknow". And, since the kill buyer insisted on then being sold together, I knew that the chances of someone taking these two was just about nil.

And so they arrived here, both with upper respiratory infections, both confused and frightened.

But, they've been given quality hay, veterinary treatment and most importantly, lots of love.

They have no fear of ever being sent to slaughter. Ryah, who arrived angry, and with food aggression (even reached over the fence to bite my eye, giving me the prettiest shiner of my life) has settled and is beginning to trust.

Dear Sage is probably the sweetest horse I've known in my rather long life of working with horses.

These two are the latest arrivals at our sanctuary-- each of our animals has a story, and as this fundraiser continues, I'll showcase more of them.

Like so many others, we've experienced a bizarre winter. Lots of rain, producing so much mud.

We brought our own, small tractor when we started the sanctuary over 10 years ago. It's been a godsend, but it isn't enough for all we need.

I had to hire a couple of guys with a skid steer to come and clean out the muddy paddocks (I'd had then drained a couple of years ago but this winter even overwhelmed that), and I brought in a load of shavings to make things more comfortable for the equids (two are mini-hinnies), as well as the pigs, the goats, and the cattle.

The guys are returning today to finish the paddocks and spread the shavings.

So far, everything has been paid for via a personal loan.

We do not take any money from the sanctuary-- no salary whatsoever.

We pay for the electricity, we do not charge rent for our property, etc.

And that's fine-- we do what we can to try and right some of the wrongs that the animal agricultural industry inflicts upon the Earth and her inhabitants.

But, we survive on government pensions and paying back all of this is daunting and stressful to say the least.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. The animals need it done now! It's been a difficult time for fundraising but that's not their fault.

Yesterday, the vet came out to look at Sage's "good eye". The other is blue and completely blind. But I'd noticed a gold coloured spot in the setting eye.

She checked pressures, etc., and took photos of the spot to research.

What was worrying, however, was a fleshy area in her conjunctiva which looks suspiciously like a squamous cell carcinoma.

Because of Sage's heart condition, she cannot have surgery. I'm keeping all fingers crossed that it isn't a cancer.

Rescue is the beginning of giving these often abused animals a new life. It includes maintenance; of feed, veterinary and farrier care, safety in all ways, medication, prosthetics, etc.

It's simple to raise funds to save an animal's life but not so much to maintain them.

So, if you can donate any amount, it'd sure be appreciated.

If you can't and I do understand, believe me; sharing, following our FB page (Meta suddenly lost our page, 10 years of history, and our 38,000 followers, 7 months ago. They were unable to find it --it wasn't even on the list any longer-- and starting over has been incredibly difficult.) would also be appreciated.

I know this has practically been a thesis and I apologize for that. But I wanted to be completely transparent and explanatory.

Thank you for your time.

Diane C Nicholson