I’m Raven, a passionate animal lover, who over the past two hours has been involved in what I can only describe as a horror scene.

On the evening of November 18th, My team of family and friends were called to help animals in need that were left at a derelict property to mostly fend for themselves in horrendous conditions. We were not prepared for what we were about to witness.

We gathered flashlights, food and headed out. We then arrived to a massive property that had a big barn area and paddocks and lots of outbuildings, plus a massive house. Right away, we saw two horses in the paddock. No hay or water in site.

Upon entering the barn, a horrid smell greeted us, and we discovered five mini horses, two dogs, three chickens and a rabbit that were clearly suffering. No food for any of them and most had no water.

(Picture after we were able to enter stall and supply food)

My team and I quickly realized this was more than just a simple rescue. These animals had been severely neglected and needed vet care. The dogs were both terrified and it took us some time to gain trust and enter the stall to provide food that we had brought with us and water.

The mini horses were cautiously curious when they saw us and immediately came to their gates for attention and head rubs. We filled up their water buckets and split some hay we found between them. The barn was very dark so it was hard to see the complete dire state of their living quarters, but from we did see and smell it was clear they had been neglected for some time.

After assessing the barn, we moved on into the house. Entering, we knew right away it was so much worse. The smell was so intense with ammonia and decay it was hard to breathe. The floor caked with feces and excrement.

Three cats were observed in a crate, covered in filth with no food or water, in a state of neglect. As we went down into the basement, we could clearly hear dogs barking.

We discovered a single dog in a crate that had no accessible food or water. We then observed two other dogs that were locked in a room that was caked with feces and filth, no food or water anywhere..

My team made a plan of action and decided that the dogs would be the first to be rounded up. We were very lucky to find that every dog was in so much need of love that they were not aggressive to us at all and so thankful for the food.

The two dogs that had been kept in the room had never seen the outside or experienced what grass felt like. I can’t describe to you the emotion that overcame us when we saw how happy they were to touch actual ground. We loaded them up in crates and then went to the barn to collect the other small animals. Unfortunately we would have to wait until the following morning to be able to come back and get the horses as we needed to have our trailer ready.

Then came the foxes. There was an arctic fox that had been kept underneath the staircase that was so malnourished and sick that she had no ears due to living in such horrible conditions. There were also four red foxes in an outbuilding. I cannot describe to you the smell, and it will never leave my nose. These were not domesticated foxes, but were not wild either. It took my team a little bit to be able to safely remove the foxes and put them in a crate so that we could get them to our ministry of natural resources. They are protected species and it is illegal to own them.

After loading all of the animals up and contacting several rescues and people, we took the animals to North Shore Muddy Paws in Elliot Lake, fosters, and the humane society. We then had people that would take some animals and get them vetted right away., myself included.

We returned the next morning with bales of fresh hay and got to work getting the trailer set up. We let all of the mini horses out into the paddock and that’s when we actually could see how bad of shape they were in.

All were underweight and more than one had bad hooves, including one who had elf hoofs. Regardless, they were all more than happy to run free in the paddock and experience fresh grass.

Although it took us a little bit to gain trust and be able to halter them, we were able to safely load every horse into the trailers.

That’s when we started to notice certain smells from the outbuildings, and decided to go and do some further inspection to make sure there were no more live animals on the property.

What we discovered is something that I will never be able to unsee or forget. We found multiple sites, including a shed, and a freezer that was filled with animals that had obviously passed. Heartbreak doesn’t even begin to describe it. Authorities are now involved and we hope that soon the individual who is responsible for this will have to answer for what they did.

The animals are now all placed with fosters and with some of my own team and we are doing the best to make sure they get the proper vet care and the love and life they deserve.

We are fundraising to help cover the costs of not only doing the rescue, but the vet care that some of the animals will require as it will be continuing.

We are not (yet) a rescue, just a team of loving friends who were asked to step in and help in a situation, and of course could not turn away from. After this ordeal, we have decided to start up an animal rescue here in Northern Ontario, and help save the lives of any animals we can.

If you can help in anyway, even with just a simple donation, it will go straight to the animals and to make sure that they get the care they need.

These animals did not deserve the horrible life that they had live, and believe that no matter what, EVERY animal matters. That is going to be our motto.

Here are some photos of some of the animals we have rescued in the past week from that situation and as you can see, with just a couple of days of love and adequate food, They look so much happier.

*UPDATE*

Your donations are making a huge difference already! Here are some pictures of some of the vet bills from the rescue!