First, just because an organization is huge and well known, don’t assume they will spend your donation wisely. Many people are deciding to give to smaller organizations in hopes that their hard-earned donation money will do more good and not be spent on corporate offices, high salaries and national advertising. However, now you must decide on how to find worthy, smaller organizations when you decide to donate to an animal charity.

This is what I would suggest you do when investigating an animal charity:

1-Do they have 501(c)3 status, or are they, at least, registered in their state as a non-profit corporation?

2-Are they willing to disclose their yearly financial reports? Is most of the revenue spent on actual caring for the animals- ie: food, veterinary care, needed supplies to make the animals comfortable?

3-Do they pay salaries, or are all the workers volunteers? You may not mind if salaries are paid, but you may want to see how much is being paid.

4-Are you welcome to visit the facility? If you can’t visit, do they post photographs and videos so you can do a virtual visit? Is the organization willing to speak to you by telephone to answer your questions?

5-Do the animals look happy and as healthy as possible?

6-Does the organization have a veterinarian willing to make a positive reference?

7- Feel free to ask for references from others- other donors, the feed store, the neighbors…

8-Does the organization have the proper permits to operate? I have seen quite a few “rescues” in a panic, needing to get rid of many animals, because they were not “legal” to begin with.

9- What is your gut feeling about the organization? If something seems “fishy”, investigate more. They may be legitimate and worthy of donations, but do your homework, so you can be sure and feel good about your choice of an animal charity.

There are many small animal charities in dire need of help. JERAS gets daily emails and calls wanting us to take in more animals, but we are not getting enough funds to do so right now. We have recently taken in 3 burros & a horse, but 2 of the burros came with sponsorship. We are getting a grant to install shelters, fence and a hay storage shed, but money to purchase feed must come from donations. We have a county kennel license and are a licensed Equine Rescue with the state of Arizona. You can visit out “Kudos”page for references, too.

http://www.jersanctuary.org/about-jeras/kudos/

I work 16 hour days to care for 25 animals and do the office and computer work. I know other people who work just as hard running their small rescues. We need your help, so please don’t be afraid of supporting us….just do your homework beforehand, so you can feel you made a good decision when choosing to donate to animal charity.

Knickers, won't you sponsor a horse?

Knickers at sunrise

This will definitely be printed so we can use it on our greeting cards. Thank you, Allison!

So, Carol and Jim have decided that they will be donating their money to a small organization which pays no salaries, has low overhead and puts almost all the money donated into actual animal care. We are fortunate to be the, in their opinion, the best animal charity to donate to this year. Thank you, Carol & Jim!

February 2, 2012 JERAS Newsletter:

January was a very busy month. We took in 2 burros and an aged Arabian stallion. Here was the posting we saw on Facebook about Knickers-

“Knickers – Arabian Stallion in an animal shelter in Grass Valley, CA – 29 years old in desperate need of rescue. They have two-weeks to find him a rescue/adopter. Knickers was pulled from deplorable conditions back in June. He spent well over 10 years of his life living in a dark, dingy barn in a tiny 10×10 barb-wired pen. The pen was never cleaned and the water and food supply was sparse at best. A Foster Care person pulled him and 11 other horses from the property, some were living in 5 feet of mud. They put wood shavings down and the horses were so hungry they started eating them. The reason we need to find a new place for Knickers is because the original foster owners are moving out of state and his current foster mom’s house is in foreclosure. They are worried that euthanasia might be the end result. They can bring him up to date on all necessary vaccines and transport. We just need to get him out of our shelter system as soon as possible. Please help they are desperate.”

We could not bear the thought of this old horse having survived such abuse only to be killed soon after beginning his recovery. He arrived at midnight 2 weeks ago. Last week, we had the farrier out for a hoof trim, because he is not calm enough for me to handle & trim by myself  and his hooves were badly overgrown. Later in the same day, our vet was out to give Knickers a much-needed dental. He is missing some molars and the opposing teeth kept growing into points, which had to be cut off with molar cutters, a tool that looks like a bolt cutter. Here is what was cut off. He also got his teeth floated, which is having the sharp edges filed off. He has to be fed soaked hay pellets 3 times a day, plus he get supplements. He is not used to grooming and prefers not to be touched, but he is most appreciative of receiving his meals and he is very fond of the burros. We have given him the 1/4 acre corral and shed for his own.

Sharp molar points which had been causing pain

Knickers, by Monica Wilson

video-

The 2 BLM jennies rescued in New Mexico from a feedlot arrived in early January. Edgewood Longears Safehouse asked if we would give them a home. They both have sponsors- many thanks to Joyce and Nancy! We are calling them Esperanza and Nina. All 5 burros are getting along very well.

JERAS new burros

I turned all 7 horses out together (not the stallion, of course) and Rusty has been going though an adjustment period…he is not a mean horse, but is defensive & angry (Lord knows what he experienced in his past with other horses). He will run at another horse, spin, & kick…of course, they all know to get out of the way in time. I thought Scout (being way bigger and the “leader”) would teach him some manners, but both Scout and Raven (geldings) just stay out of his way. It is as if they realize Rusty has “issues” he needs to work out on his own. I just read a quote from a behavioralist in the Horse’s Hoof magazine saying: 4 or more horses constitute a herd and if you give them 5 or more acres, they will work out their issues and past baggage and become a peaceful group. It has been a week and I think Rusty is beginning to feel better, and safer. I have deep respect and admiration for the other 6 horses who are not being aggressive and are leaving him alone to work out his “tantrums”. Horses are marvelous, if we give them the freedom to be themselves.

The vet also looked at Tara last week. I was having to clean off her rear after she passes stool. It turns out she has a tumor which is affecting her nerves in that area. It does not appear to be cancerous. At her age of 12 plus years, plus arthritis and IBD, we will not opt to put her through very expensive, invasive surgery. She is on a low allergen grain free diet and is still happy, comfortable & eating well. We are praying she gets a lot more quality time, as she arrived here 2 years years ago after 10 years of neglect and living on a chain.

Tara before coming to Journey's End Ranch

Tara Nov.2, 2011

We are THRILLED that we will be receiving the Pepsi Grant to fence more acreage and install horse shelters and hay storage. We cannot thank all of you who voted enough!

The first half is paid this month and we just ordered an 18 X 21 metal structure for a shelter and an 18 X 31 structure to store hay. Hay prices are through the roof in Az….almost $400 a ton, and we use 2.5 tons a month (not even counting Knickers’ pellets).  We are already searching for quality grass hay in bulk and hope to save a lot of money by doing so.

Donations are needed to build up our almost depleted hay fund, so we can get a probable semi load of ~ 20-25 tons. We are trying to come up with $5000-6000 to do so. Otherwise, we will remain at the mercy of Az. hay growers and the feed store acting as middle man.

We also continue to advocate for all animals and to network animals in need. Just several weeks ago, we received an email about 2 eleven year old Italian Greyhounds in need of a home. I immediately thought of our friend Keith in Phoenix. He took them in and they are now living a great life, gaining weight (they had been skin & bones) and getting the love and TLC they deserve. Thank you, Keith!

Thank you to Lynda Nicholson www.HorseWebsitesThatWork.com  for the fantastic SEO work she is doing to make us more visible on Google searches and to Terri Rylander for doing a lot of our website work as a volunteer.

I had been feeling more run-down than usual for several months, and was having almost constant asthma attacks, despite wearing my respirator when handling hay. I did some research on Addison’s disease. Well, I found I needed to increase my cortisol dosage and began taking it in divided doses. I regained my strength within a few days. Because I have had Lyme for 40 years, my body is under enormous stress, not to mention the stresses of running the sanctuary. I am so happy now because I feel as if this info literally saved my life.

JERAS has a few new supporters as of January and we wish to thank them and our old friends and supporters for allowing us to continue our work here,  now providing a safe & happy home to 25 animals. Please think of us and mention us to others when deciding on the best animal charities to donate to.

Love,

Cathy & the Gang

newly trimmed hoof

Knickers, won't you sponsor a horse?

In the afternoon, our vet was out to give Knickers a much-needed dental. He is missing some molars and the opposing teeth kept growing into points, which had to be cut off with molar cutters, a tool that looks like a bolt cutter. Here is what was cut off. He also got his teeth floated, which is having the sharp edges filed off.

Sharp molar points which had been causing pain

Knickers was sedated for his dental, so he was very well behaved for that! When I fed him his evening meal, he was already having an easier time eating his soaked hay pellets.

While the vet was here, he took a look at Tara, because the groomer and I had found she has a tumor on her hind end. It does not appear to be cancerous and we feel surgery would be out of the question at her age and condition and the cost to do it. Our vet thinks it could be quite some time before it causes possible incontinence. Tara already has arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, so putting her through invasive surgery  would not be a good thing in our opinion.

Tara snoozing

Tonight, our friend Monica Wilson saw Knickers’ picture on Facebook and did some artistic changes. We love it!

Knickers, by Monica Wilson

This is her newest- Vanishing Spirits- using Windy & Rene’ as models.

Vanishing Spirits by Susan Monty

Detail of Windy

Detail of Rene'

We love it and we hope you will visit her websites:

http://www.susanmonty.com/

and

http://susanmontyfineart.etsy.com

This was the post I had seen on Facebook:

“Knickers – Arabian Stallion in an animal shelter in Grass Valley, CA – 29 years old in desperate need of rescue. They have two-weeks to find him a rescue/adopter. Knickers was pulled from deplorable conditions back in June. He spent well over 10 years of his life living in a dark, dingy barn in a tiny 10×10 barb-wired pen. The pen was never cleaned and the water and food supply was sparse at best. A Foster Care person pulled him and 11 other horses from the property, some were living in 5 feet of mud. They put wood shavings down and the horses were so hungry they started eating them. Knickers came to stay at the foster care’s mom’s house. They had the vet out, his teeth floated and his feet trimmed. He was thin but not nearly as skinny as the others. Knickers is a very gentle boy with people. Eventually, they had to place him in another foster home right up the road since they had two mares. Knickers did really well in his new foster home and is was living with a gelding in a big pasture. The reason we need to find a new place for Knickers is because the original foster owners are moving out of state and his current foster mom’s house is in foreclosure. They are worried that euthanasia might be the end result. They can bring him up to date on all necessary vaccines and transport. We just need to get him out of our shelter system as soon as possible. Please help they are desperate.”

He looks just like the little Arabian gelding I had for 24 years, who died of a stroke at age 31 in 2004. I could not bear to think this horse might die after being rescued, just because he is losing his foster home. Stallions are hard to place and require special handling. The  consensus is he is too old to geld safely. After all those years of neglect, he deserves to spend his final years in a safe, comfortable home.

It also turns out he has spectacular bloodlines, and is a Naborr grandson and great-grandson. If you aren’t familiar with this famous Arabian, just Google him.

We have built a paddock to separate him from the other horses, since he is a stallion, but he will have lots of company on the other side of the fence. We hope to be able to eventually pair him up with Raven, our one domestic horse. He arrived at 11 PM Jan. 18 and was quite wild and rambunctious, but settled down overnight. He is a beautiful horse, despite his age.

Knickers requires a diet of soaked pellets, as he is almost 30 years old and has lost molars. His feed and supplements will run about $125 a month. With rising hay prices, it is a constant struggle to get enough funding to pay our feed bills. Won’t you consider becoming a monthly donor to help sweet old Knickers?

Knickers shortly after rescue/summer 2011

Knickers

New burros, Esperanza and Nina

New burros from New Mexico

The two new girls have sponsors to cover their hay. Thank you, Joyce and Nancy! We are very happy to work with Dorothea Lotter and Andrew Cross who run a great burro rescue in New Mexico. These two are from a large group they rescued from a feedlot back in November. Most, if not all, of them would have ended up being used for roping practice which is a very cruel way to treat a burro. Many are injured and permanently emotionally damaged by this so-called “sport”.

Esperanza is very pregnant. So far, all 5 burros seem to like one another through the fence. The new girls are in their own paddock for now until they settle in.

new burros

We found a great transporter for Knickers and they are doing it for gas only money. They are 5 star rated and have wonderful reviews. He will travel next week from Grass Valley, Ca.  Sammie’s Friends organization who rescued him from extreme neglect last year is covering the cost.

The 2 BLM burros who had been used for roping practice are coming from a donkey rescue in New Mexico who rescued 15 burros from a feedlot in November. Had they not done so, most would have ended up being used again for the despicable  practice of roping donkeys. One donkey they rescued in the past actually crosses her hind legs when she walks due to repeated roping injuries to her hind end. Dorothea, who runs the rescue, actually once saw a jenny give birth in the roping arena! How anyone could harm these gentle creatures and still consider themselves “men” is beyond me.

Longears  Safehouse rescue was finally able to tame these two enough to sedate them and have their overgrown feet trimmed and have the vet draw blood for Coggins tests and health certificates to travel into Az.

One is very pregnant and we were advised to keep these 2 in their own area for the safety of the coming foal. I fenced in a 50 by 90 foot area and split the burro shelter into 2 halves with a corral panel. Our current 3 will be able to visit with the new girls without the worry of anyone getting harmed while they settle in and after the baby is born. Eventually, all 6 (including baby) will have the entire 3 acres.

Here are current photos of them in New Mexico.

After my back surgery 20 years ago, I was given a lifting limit of 10 pounds and another doctor told me in 1987 that I had “worn my back out” by age 33. Well, I am pretty sore from driving T posts and moving panels with no help, but it was worth it to be able to offer a home to these 3 deserving animals. I am looking forwatd to meeting them and having them settle in at JERAS.

I just happened to go by the Rescues United page on Facebook the other night and read this story of horrific neglect of a large group of Arabian horses:

“Knickers – Arabian Stallion in an animal shelter in Grass Valley, CA – 28 years old in desperate need of rescue. They have two-weeks to find him a rescue/adopter. Knickers was pulled from deplorable conditions back in June. He spent well over 10 years of his life living in a dark, dingy barn in a tiny 10×10 barb-wired pen. The pen was never cleaned and the water and food supply was sparse at best. A Foster Care person pulled him and 11 other horses from the property, some were living in 5 feet of mud. They put wood shavings down and the horses were so hungry they started eating them. Knickers came to stay at the foster care’s mom’s house. They had the vet out, his teeth floated and his feet trimmed. He was thin but not nearly as skinny as the others. Knickers is a very gentle boy with people. Eventually, they had to place him in another foster home right up the road since they had two mares. Knickers did really well in his new foster home and is was living with a gelding in a big pasture. The reason we need to find a new place for Knickers is because the original foster owners are moving out of state and his current foster mom’s house is in foreclosure. They are worried that euthanasia might be the end result. They can bring him up to date on all necessary vaccines and transport. We just need to get him out of our shelter system as soon as possible. Please help they are desperate.”

He looks just like the little Arabian gelding I had for 24 years, who died of a stroke at age 31 in 2004. I could not bear to think this horse might die after being rescued, just because he is losing his foster home. Stallions are hard to place and require special handling. The  consensus is he is too old to geld safely. After all those years of neglect, he deserves to spend his final years in a safe, comfortable home.

Here is the place he came from.

Knickers' old home

Knickers on the road to recovery

Once again, we want to thank our friends & supporters for enabling us to continue our work of providing a safe haven for 22 sanctuary animals and also helping to save, foster, network and find homes for other animals at risk.

We are currently in the grant application process for the Pepsi Refresh Challenge grant. Your votes brought us in at 5th place which is very thrilling and humbling, too. We are thankful you have come to know us through our work and that you are confident in our ability to continue making a difference in the lives of animals. This grant would enable us to add shelters and fencing and help more animals in 2012.

In 2011, we provided a home for 7 horses, 3 burros, 10 dogs, a mini pig and a Barbados ram. We are now awaiting the arrival of 2 more jennies. They were formerly wild and were rescued from abuse by a donkey rescue in New Mexico who asked us to give them a home where they can finally be at peace. One is pregnant.

We unfortunately had to put one horse to sleep because of progressive brain damage from an injury he received before joining us. He at least got to live his last 16 months in relative freedom in the desert with a group of other mustangs, after having served his former owners for years as a riding lesson horse despite partial blindness and hoof problems. We took in another unwanted mustang who needed a home and required serious hoof rehabilitation and we also took in a third, formerly wild, burro in need of a safe home. We fenced in an additional 3 acres and built a shelter so the burros have their own area now. We met someone who had found a stray Barbados ram and could not keep him, so he also joined us and is good company for our little, old pot-bellied pig.

In addition to our permanent residents, we saved, fostered and placed 3 dogs who were about to die at at local shelter and 2 dogs from a shelter in another state. We also coordinated the rescue of 6 other death row dogs, collecting donations, finding transport and foster homes or new homes for them.

We also administer several pages on Facebook that help share animal care info and advocate for animal welfare by helping to keep people informed of current issues.

Our friends and fans on Facebook and Twitter and those on our email lists know we relentlessly network animals at risk and in need of help. With our thousands of connections, we have helped saved dozens of animals in 2011 and we are honored to work in cooperation with many other selfless animal advocates and rescuers.

NONE of this could have been achieved without your friendship, financial support, cooperation and encouragement. We look forward to another year of helping innocent animals find homes and live the happy, safe lives they deserve whether here at our sanctuary or in other new homes.

Thank you!

Cathy & the Gang

Carson

Our new burrito!

3 of the sanctuary mustangs

We are still in shock from finishing in the #5 spot for the $10,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant which means we are a finalist and get to proceed with the application process. WHAT A THRILL!

We cannot thank everyone enough! We are truly, truly blessed with great friends & supporters.

Our hope is to be able to put up a few shelters, fence another 6-10 acres and also put up a hay storage shed. Having to keep the hay under double tarps, and tied down against our sometimes 60 mph winds is physically difficult and time consuming.

We hear of horse and burros in need and at risk daily and hope that receiving a grant will allow us to assist in saving and rehabilitating additional animals.

Our weather is beautiful, all the JERAS animals are well and I am catching up on paperwork I neglected while dealing with the month of voting in Pepsi Refresh.

THANK YOU ALL, ONCE AGAIN!

Here are 2 videos from the past few days.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thank you to all our friends & supporters who helped us achieve another year of saving animals and providing them with a safe and happy home.

Cathy & the Gang at Journey’s End Ranch Animal Sanctuary    

http://www.refresheverything.com/journeys-end-ranch-jeras

$10,000 would allow us to build a few shelters, fence in another 6-10 acres and put up a much-needed hay storage shed. We could then take in additional abused & abandoned horses & burros, and foster at risk equines until homes could be found for them. Please vote daily and you can also text in an additional vote. Thank you.

I have spent the past few days driving T posts and putting in step-in posts to fence in the new burro area. Tomorrow, I will do insulators and run the electric fence wire. This additional 700 feet of fence will add 2 acres to the burro enclosure.

With all the rain we have had, the 3 burros have spent a lot of time in the shelter I built for them. That makes me feel good to see my efforts are appreciated.

The 2 abused jennies should be coming from New Mexico soon. They apparently had been used for roping practice. One or both are pregnant. The rescue which asked us to give them a home said they once saw a poor jenny give birth right after being roped in the roping arena. How people can do this cruel sport and consider themselves “men” is beyond me. They are nothing but heartless, immature boys in my opinion.

abused burros

Susan Monty is working on a portrait of Rene’. She uses our mustangs as models to bring awareness to the plight of wild horses.

Another portrait of Rene' by Susan Monty, not quite finished

Pedigree Foundation

This year’s grant will cover  quite a few of the dog’s needs. It is nice to know that there are companies like Pedigree who truly care about helping animals.

What a past week. I lost two friends to cancer. One, Christine Jubic, I met on Facebook about a year and a half ago. She was an amazing warrior for animals, humans and the planet. She is terribly missed. Then, a high school friend who I became reconnected with last year sent me a message saying our mutual high school friend had lost her life to cancer, after beating it many times since her childhood. I regret that Lisa and I had not had the chance to connect; we had been close in school and I feel terrible that she only lived to be 57. I will never forget how we met each other in freshman year- in detention. LOL.

Lisa in 1972

The weather has either been rainy or cloudy, with “frozen fog” a few mornings. The days are short and I think I am having a bout with seasonal affective disorder. I just know that on Dec. 22, I will start to feel cheerier.

We are running in #5 place in the $10,000 Pepsi Refresh Project contest, which is good enough to qualify us for a grant if we can stay in the top 15 through December.

You can vote via internet daily and also text in an additional daily vote .

http://www.refresheverything.com/journeys-end-ranch-jeras

$10,000 would do us wonders- more fencing, a few shelters and a hay storage shed. Struggling with 4 huge tarps is getting to be too much for me. That, and hay is up to $17.75 a bale…it needs to be well-protected at these prices. THANK YOU for your daily votes!

3 of the sanctuary mustangs

I repaired the small back yard today, replacing shade cloth that Shyla had torn up. She in no longer allowed in that yard. The cloth covers the ground, giving me a clean, dust free area for doing laundry and bathing dogs (weather permitting).

Late in the afternoon, we had a feed delivery of $1432.00. 60 bales of grass hay, 4 sacks of dog food, horse minerals, 8 sacks of alfalfa cubes, 2 sacks of hay pellets, wild bird seed and pet pig food. All this will last us about 6 weeks for the equines and 3-4 weeks for the dogs. I am now feeding about 50 quail and 20 doves in the morning.

Dr. Viktor Reinhardt was very kind and sent 4 more copies of his new book, in which JERAS is featured with other sanctuaries.

Dr.Viktor Reinhardt's new book featuring Journey's End Ranch

Here is a little video of the dogs 2 days ago.

Christine Jubic 12/20/51-12/09/2011

One of the most unique, intelligent, passionate persons to ever have walked the earth.
A masterpiece if you will.
Humanitarian, Environmentalist, Artist, Writer.
For the earth: dedicated to preserving the Land, water, and sky.
For the animals: an incredible driving force for Animal Protection Animal abuse + neglect awareness.
For the ones she loved: she put her heart and soul into everything she thought right.
If you were touched by her you know, “you were touched by someone who will grow and bloom inside you Forever!”
My mom, my hero.
A fighter for everything she believed in until the end. Sadly lost her battle with cancer at home peacefully with her family by her side. Daughter of the Late Doris and Bob Wills, Cambridge NY
Survived by: devoted husband George Jubic, Daughter Robin Demers and family. 4 Sisters,3 Brothers. Several Nieces and nephews.
Thank you to the wonderful family support team and hospice who helped keep her happy and comfortable at home.
in Lieu of flowers:
please send donations to Quarter-acre ranch rescue
118 River Road
Johnsonville, NY 12094
First Niagra Bank- 32 ,2nd street Troy Ny 12182

♥ As I promised ,we will continue her rescue in her name. Any donations will be put forth for care,food, maintance,and necessities to do so. In her last days one of her main concerns were her current rescues…with love to ♥ Poco,Lighting,Poppa,Bubbles,Fritzie,Emma,Georgie,and Baby, and the rabbits…♥

a kiss is just a kiss until you’ve been ‘mulekist’
we did good mom ♥ you’re the rockstar! ♥
…………………………………………………..
I regret that I only got to know you this past year. You will be sorely missed.

Christine protested horse slaughter by spending every Sunday during race season at the Saratoga Racetrack several years ago. She was a courageous warrior.
More than just wild horses and slaughter, she had SO MANY blogs of substance, it’s all on her blogger profile: http://www.blogger.com/profile/03024590325712635526 . She called herself
“Mz.Many Names” and how apropos as the over 2 dozen blogs she authored reflected her diverse and many interests.

We are in 7th place and they give grants to the top 15 !!!

Please vote several times a day and share. Please vote every day through December. Please cross post and ask your friends to help.

Getting this will fence more acreage and build shelters and a hay storage building.

I trimmed Kola’s hooves today and was busy with all the regular chores of caring for 22 animals, plus promoting our Pepsi Refresh idea on Facebook & via emails. I also called the White House numerous times to say I do not want horse slaughter back in our country. (202) 456-1111. Please call.

Here are a few new pics from today.  They won’t upload…. you can see them on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.316440088379630.84201.100000409242463&type=3

Got to run…please keep voting!  Thank you!

You can vote 5 times a day, through December. Pepsi pays out to 15th place and we are currently at 7th!  Please vote for us and share! We could fence another 6-10 acres, put up 2 more shelters and a hay storage shed, plus fill it with hay! Thank you!

http://www.refresheverything.com/journeys-end-ranch-jeras

Pepsi Refresh Grant to help more horses!

All the animals are well. The burros are enjoying their new area and I will finish fencing to give them several more acres in the next week.  We are looking forward to the 2 additional rescued-from-slaughter burros arriving soon from New Mexico.

Abused and almost sent to slaughter

Don’t forget, we are now affiliated with Benefit Wines.

Wine that benefits JERAS

 www.BenefitWines.com/jeras

Once again, we want to thank all our friends and supporters because you are the lifeblood of JERAS! It is true that I do all the physical work and animal care here, but without the funding & encouragement from you, I could not continue to do it.

                                                       THANK YOU!

I used corral panels and some other materials we had lying around for 8 years, so only had to purchase the lumber and roof panels- total cost $215.

Early in November, Journey’s End Ranch took in a teenage formerly wild burro from a local friend. Pepito likes to dig holes and Mary’s husband has had several orthopedic surgeries, so she was afraid he would fall into a hole. They had only had him 6 months. The person who had him for a year prior to that did not like his digging, either. You can see him and video of him with Jo and Serena on his page. http://www.jersanctuary.org/horses-and-burros/pepito/

Journey's End Ranch's new burrito!

We were asked to take in two BLM jennies who were rescued from slaughter by a New Mexico donkey rescue. Both are traumatized and had been used for roping practice. One or both are pregnant and their feet had been badly neglected. We agreed, as long as both could find sponsors to cover their hay costs. Luckily, they both now have sponsors. The girls will travel as soon as possible, after being gentled a bit and having hoof trims.

Burros soon to arrive at Journey's End Ranch

I just finished electric fencing of 3/4 acre for the burros.  Georgette Topakas of Zephyr’s Garden (natural horse care products) challenged us to a Facebook “like” venture and said they would donate 50 cents for each new “like” their page and our page received, up go $250. It took 5 days, but all the JERAS fans really did a great job of posting and inviting their friends to like both pages. Thank you all- great team work! We will now have the money to fence in another 2+ acres for the burros. I will do that within a few weeks.

We are now affiliated with Benefit Wines.  Check out their great wine which also helps us!  www.BenefitWines.com/jeras

Journey's End Ranch Benefit Wines

We are greatly honored that Journey’s End Ranch Animal Sanctuary was featured in Dr. Viktor Reinhardt’s new book, “Home For Life, Sanctuaries for Abandoned Pets”.

Dr.Viktor Reinhardt's new book featuring Journey's End Ranch

Big, big news for Journey’s End Ranch! We have made it into the running for the Pepsi Refresh Challenge! If we won a grant, we would do more fencing, add a few shelters and a hay storage building and help more animals, perhaps fostering at-risk animals until a new home could be found.

Please vote for us and share the link. This would be an ENORMOUS help and blessing!

“Fence additional acreage and build more shelters to save local animals”

http://www.refresheverything.com/journeys-end-ranch-jeras

.Some bad news, the new national budget was passed without the de-funding of horse slaughter inspectors clause which had caused American slaughter houses to close in 2007. Now, the door is open to once again butchering American horses here. For more info about slaughter, visit our webpage. http://www.jersanctuary.org/animal-advocacy/horse-slaughter-facts/

We urge everyone to contact their Reps in Washington (202) 225-3121 and ask them to co-sponsor and support these 2 bills:  S 1176 and HR 2966.

Feed prices continue to rise and we are always in need of funds to keep up with the costs of caring for 22 (soon to be 24) animals. Thank you for your support and please share our website with your friends and family.

Holiday Greetings from Journey's End Ranch

new burro shelter

I also took video of the burros playing