“The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.” – Charles Darwin
Dictionary.com defines a sanctuary is a place of refuge and an asylum. An asylum is a secure retreat, a haven or a shelter, a refuge that is secure from destruction and violence. In the animal world, a sanctuary is a place where animals are given a refuge and a lifelong home in a loving, caring environment.
Often people use the terms “Sanctuary” and “Rescue” synonymously. Although there are some similarities, they are not the same thing.
Similarities:
· Both sanctuaries and rescues are generally non-profits that help animals. They rely heavily on donations from supporters to continue protecting and caring for the animals.
· Both sanctuaries and rescues will take animals that have been in bad situations and rehabilitate them.
· Both sanctuaries and rescues are focused on animal welfare.
Differences:
· Sanctuaries provide lifelong homes for all the animals that come in. Animals do not leave the sanctuary. Sometimes sanctuaries will have foster programs so they can help more animals, but the fosters still remain the property of the sanctuary. Rescues, on the other hand, take animals in and then rehabilitate and train them so they can be adopted out to qualified homes, making room to take in more rescues.
· Sanctuary animals are not all “rescues.” While some animals come from bad situations or seizures by Animal Protection Services, sanctuaries are also places where people can send their animals if they can no longer take care of them or their situation changes, and they want to make sure their animal will have a secure home for the rest of its life. Rescue animals tend to all come out of bad situations like abuse, neglect and slaughter.
At the Sanctuary, we use the following terms to define the animals that come into our care:
· Intake – any animal coming into the Sanctuary, regardless of how it makes its way to us. The Sanctuary has an intake form that is filled out for each animal with known history and current condition.
· Rescue – an animal taken in from a bad situation, whether Animal Protection Services is involved or not. A bad situation can be abuse, neglect, transport for slaughter or other situations where the animal’s continued welfare is in question. An example of a rescue is Mrs. Henrietta Donkey. She was in a neglect situation when she was rescued by a friend of ours. She was then given to us as she was very shy and needed lots of one on one attention.
· Surrender – an animal that is given to the Sanctuary free of charge. There is absolutely no negative connotation with a surrender. They are often much-loved animals in need of a new home. An example of a surrender would be Poker, our first miniature horse. He was a very well-cared for and loved pony in his previous home, but his hooves were causing him major issues. His humans knew he would do better at a place where his feet could be cared for on a more frequent cycle. Since Rhonda is a trimmer who specializes in foundered minis, his humans gave Poker to her.
· Apprehension – an animal that is apprehended by Animal Protection Services and subsequently given to the Sanctuary to care for. Apprehension happens when APS has to come in and remove an animal due to neglect or abuse. The Sanctuary is registered with APS to take in apprehended animals, but we have not received any yet.
You may be asking yourself why Happy Little Hooves chose to be a Sanctuary instead of a Rescue. The reason is actually quite simple. We want to make sure that any animal that comes into our care will never find themselves in a situation that puts them at risk for neglect, abuse or slaughter. The only way to ensure that was to become a sanctuary and provide for the animal for the rest of its life. That is why our official mission is:
“We are devoted to providing health, safety and a happy, secure lifelong home for donkeys, miniature horses, ponies and miniature mules who are abused, neglected, unwanted or whose owners are no longer able to care for them. We seek to educate the public about proper care and treatment of small equines.”
With so many animals in need, why did Happy Little Hooves decide to focus on “the littles,” as we call them – ponies, miniature horses, donkeys and mini-mules? In 2011, Rhonda and Laura fell in love with donkeys. From that moment on, we knew we wanted to have a donkey sanctuary someday. Donkeys are some of the most neglected and mistreated animals in the world because of the well-known misunderstanding that they are “stubborn.” Donkeys will not do something they believe might be dangerous, and you cannot force a donkey to do anything. This leads to people feeling that the donkeys are making them look stupid, and the cycle begins. Donkeys are, in fact, gentle, sweet animals that will loyally follow someone they trust.
In 2017, Rhonda began trimming hooves for a living, and that was when she fell in love with ponies and mini horses. They quickly became some of her favourite clients, and she became known as the “pony whisperer” because she was able to trim ponies and minis that no one else could touch! All the contact with ponies and minis showed them that the horse littles needed a sanctuary as well. They tend to have some of the worst foot issues in the equine world because they are so prone to founder and metabolic diseases. As well, ponies and minis can have a lot of behavioural issues because they are small and cute so they are not trained to be safe equines like large horses are. This soon leads to problems for the owners.
By providing a sanctuary for the littles, Happy Little Hooves provides a safe place for small equines to be safely trained and handled and to receive the hoof care they need. We also strive to educate people on the true nature of donkeys and ponies, encouraging people to understand them better and, therefore, treat them better.
The Sanctuary’s vision is:
“To see a world in which the littlest equines are respected and cared for.”
At the Sanctuary, we hold strongly to the values of Animal Welfare, the Right to Quality of Life, Compassion, Education and Collaboration. We strive to uphold the “Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare”:
· Freedom from Hunger and Thirst
· Freedom from Discomfort
· Freedom from Pain
· Freedom to Express Normal Behaviour
· Freedom from Fear and Distress
By providing these freedoms for the ponies, minis and donkeys in our care, we can ensure they live happy, healthy lives.