The Sanctuary Celebrates Earth Day -All Week!

Earth day/Earth Week is something that we enjoy celebrating at the Our Companions Animal Sanctuary. Each year we strive to do some small acts that will greatly impact the Earth and our local community and this year was no different! We had a lot going on during the week, please read how local people are helping out the Sanctuary and the Earth!

Road Clean Up:
We were lucky enough to have a few Earth conscious girls cleaning trash from the roadways that the dogs frequently walk. This not only made it so that the roads were cleaner for our dogs but for many local dogs that also use these back roads as their means of exercise! Thanks girls!!

 

These great girls picked up bag after bag of trash

on the roads near the Sanctuary!



 

Fraternity Ground Work:

Another group that stopped by during Earth week were 8 young men from the UConn Fraternity, Alpha Kappa Lamba. They helped with a lot of outdoor projects and even helped us move some wood chips that we have been hoping to add to our trail! What a great help!!

 

From building this cart to spreading woodchips to

the Sanctuary trails, they were so helpful!

 



Wildlife Management Class Presentation:
You might not have known this but we have been working closely with a Wildlife Management group from UConn this semester. They have chosen the sanctuary to be their project and have researched all aspects of wildlife and environmental issues here at the sanctuary. They were able to report on creative and helpful solutions that might be able to assist us with any problems that occur at our location. They did a lot of hard work and covered a wide variety of topics. These topics were of great interest to our feline guest/audience member, Frankie, who couldn't get close enough to the screen. We are so grateful for these students!!
 

 

Frankie posing and listening intently to learn more

about Wildlife Management at the Sanctuary

 

These events have been so great to host and we are so grateful for all of our wonderful volunteers! Earth week is important to all of us and impacts our animals tremendously. So if you were able to stop by and hang a colorful paper flower on our wall, read the informational posters in the cottages, make a birdfeeder for the local birds or if you just picked up one piece of trash off of the ground, we thank you!!

 

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little.

Do what you can!

-Sydney Smith

 





Dillon, a current guest at the sanctuary

I want to share these adorable pictures of Dillon taken today with one of our fantastic volunteers, Sheila! Although he may come across aloof at times, Dillon is really coming around and certainly has a playful side to him! He had a good 20 minute play session today with Sheila who had him racing around my office chasing the rainbow string toy. The last picture I call his  "post workout" shot! After his playtime he jumped into his kitty bed where is he sound asleep as I write this. He makes me laugh everyday!

Spring at the Sanctuary

                                                    It's Spring Time at the Sanctuary!

The ice has thawed and all manner of living things are out and about here at the Our Companions Sanctuary in Ashford.  Everyone here, including the dogs, the cats, the staff, and the volunteers, are soaking up the sun and breathing in the fresh air after this long, cold winter.

 

Spring Inspiration

Flowers are in bloom, leaves are starting to sprout and the grass is getting green  -  Springtime is finally here!

We can feel our spirits lifting with the warming temperatures. And , what better time to share stories of hope and inspiration from our furry friends.

Even though every rescue has their own special story, some just pull on our heart strings and touch us just a little more than others.

The story of Mason is just one of those touching tales.........

Life is pretty good about throwing us all curves, and looking at Mason you can probably guess the curves that were tossed his way.

But...                                                                                                                                                                      like Mason ,we're not going to dwell on on his past. Other than to say he was born with no hind legs and  had survived alone outside until his rescue this January.  No -  Now, Mason is all about the future and moving forward.

This incredibly special guy is about 3 years old, has a heart of gold and without a doubt  has stolen the hearts of everyone who has met him.

 Watching him play, get around and just enjoy life as a cat has all his visitors leaving his room with a smile and a positive feeling inside. (And we're pretty sure he's loving all that extra spoiling too.)

We've had to make a few adjustments to his room to allow him as much freedom and comfort as possible.

As you can see, he's making himself right at home here! 

Although he's not complaining, we are continuing to work on ways to make life just a little better for Mason.  After all- he makes our lives a little better every day. 

 It might be a small thing for him, but, he lets us feel like at the end of the day we've made a difference- and that's a big thing 

for us!

Happy Spring!   

Easter Bunnies for hire!

We've had a few auditions for the role of "Easter Bunny" at the OC Sanctuary!

Which Easter Bunny do you think will be hiding your eggs tonight?

 

Happy Easter everyone!!

Fixing Up Kaylee

 What Are Those Patches On Your Rump, Kaylee?

Well, that's quite a story.  Like many dogs in Connecticut pounds and rescues, Kaylee's is a winding tale that starts down south.  Brought up north, untrained, and under-socialized, Kaylee wound up as a young, high energy pup in a local town pound.  She was adopted out quickly, only to test positive for heartworm and end up being returned.

So what is a good hearted town Animal Control Officer to do with a hyper, heartworm positive pup.  That's where Our Companions comes in.  As we often do, we stepped in to assist with Kaylee's heartworm treatments, which is where those shaved spots on her back end came from, and to provide her a home where she could get the exercise and training she needs to be a happy and highly adoptable dog.  She has since been cleared of her heartworm problems and been spayed while in our care. Now it's just time for her story to wind it's way into a perfect forever home.