October 28, 2009 Blizzard

This was the scene early this morning as I walked out the door to begin feeding.
This video starts at the Chicken Coop, you will see a gray blob which is the horse trailer, next to that is the round pen, the collapsed loafing shed that never made the pen, with the horse corrals and pasture in the background and then ending at the red barn. All of this is about 75 yards from where I am standing at the house.

So far it has only gotten worse today. I had bedded animals in heavily and Ray placed large bales in all of the feeders for the horses before this storm hit in an effort to get ready for it.

The only downfall is that the loafing shed we had spent so much time building for the senior horses as shelter for this storm was not welded tightly to the skids so when I tried moving it to their pen, it came apart completely. I guess that is what comes from not having the equipment we need to get the job done the way it is supposed to be done. We had reused materials from an old building for this that now will be firewood instead. Talk about frustrating. We have decided that it is worth trying again to raise the funding for needed loafing shed materials and having it built with steel instead of wood..

You can see somewhat from this video the weather I am dealing with in caring for these animals on a daily basis and why it is so important to have an operational piece of equipment so that I can maneuver over these snow drifts to feed these animals that rely on me daily. I can't stress how important and valuable this is. A skid steer on tracks is definitely going to be the most versatile tool for us at this point. That machine would be able to travel over these snow drifts, dig the animals out, and would ensure that we do not fail these animals because of the winter blizzard conditions in that I can't get to them to feed.

Please consider helping Denkai with this need. I can't express enough the urgent need for this machine. Please visit www.denkaisanctuary.org, e-mail: info@denkaisanctuary.org or call (970) 895-2337 if you are able to help.

Sanctuary Horses aid Youth in Crisis

Two of 18 Arabian Horses have found their calling in aiding youth in crisis. Bashkira, a 26 year old mare and Colby, a three year old gelding arrived at Reflections for Youth near Loveland, CO on October 20. The reaction from the youth was all we needed to know that this is going to be a successful program for both Denkai Animal Sanctuary and Reflections.

Not only are these youth learning about the horses, their backgrounds and the strife that the equine have been through, they have helped to build a fence, loafing shed and now have daily chores in feeding, watering, and caring for Bashkira and Colby.

We will Bring you continued updates on this project and hope to grow it into more facilities such as Reflections in the future!

Visit www.denkaisanctuary.org for more information on our facility.

October 10, 2009 Snow

Video taken today at the Sanctuary after the snow had started melting and feeding was done.

You can see where the snow is settling and when it drifts, we can't even walk or drive though the area you see here.

Hence the need for a tractor/skid steer to dig out with. Visit www.denkaisanctuary.org

Charlotte the Incredible!

Charlotte is now nearly one year old. She will be a full sized hog and grow to around 1000 lbs. Charlotte originally landed at the Larimer Humane Society in Fort Collins after running loose near Loveland, CO.

She loves to run, must be scratched daily and has the greatest personality! She still loves her visits to the senior horses and of course will drop everything for a belly rub.

You too can be part of Charlotte's world! Help through sponsoring her, bring her treats and spread the word!

Visit: www.denkaisanctuary.org

New Arrivals Show the Callouness of our Society

We received an urgent call from one of our supporters regarding several weanling and yearling horses this past Wednesday who had been dumped off at Centennial Livestock Auction in Fort Collins. They needed a place to go.

This was a difficult decision for us, we are slammed with horses here and really could not fathom more coming in. Looking at these poor souls, the shape they are in and the fact that the two weanlings are around 2-3 months old and should never have been removed from their mothers at this age was enough to seal the deal. The only other choice these innocent babies would have been death thanks to the callousness of their previous owners.

Both of the weanlings here have some issues that will need attention immediately and again Denkai is asking for your help for the sake of these poor babies. The darker Chestnut foal has a very large hernia and has been a bit dehydrated, but otherwise seems pretty lively.

The palomino foal is in pretty rough shape. He has a very swollen rear hock, is limping on it a little, but does put weight on it. He is obviously very parasitic (worms) and in pretty poor health. He is very scared and obviously was not well cared for.

The two yearlings will recover pretty quickly. There are areas where their mane and fur have been rubbed off, looks to us like they were roped, there is a possibility that they were all used as roping dummies.

Please be the angel these babies so desperately need right now. Become a sponsor today to help us provide needed immediate veterinary care, supplements, feed, and medication to these babies. No contribution is too small, even $10.00 helps. Please visit: www.denkaisanctuary.org or mail to: 36710 WCR 126 Grover, CO 80729.

Meet the Goats of Denkai! Help through Sponsorship!

There are many special animals here at Denkai. More than 20 goats and sheep reside at our Sanctuary. Several of these are senior animals who have been with us over the last four years and several are young goats who have faced misfortune prior to entering Denkai.

The escape artists in the video are from the Peyton, CO area. Breeding became out of control and what started with merely a few goats turned into 9 very quickly. Their owner, no longer able to care for them had just stopped feeding them until rescue stepped in. Most all of these goats had very little if any handling and are still pretty wild to this day. They are very beautiful and without our facility would have had no place to go, they were and are not considered adoptable as a pet.

Goats at Denkai have free roam, but do have a penned area that gives them shelter and protection from predators.

Here's how you can help these wonderful goats:
1. Consider fostering or adoption. We only let goats go to homes as pets and do have several friendly goats here.

2. Become a monthly sponsor, get your church involved in sponsoring, have your child's school or class sponsor an animal. Please visit our website at: www.denkaisanctuary.org and click "The Animals", then Sponsoring for more information.

3. Donate Materials for their enclosure. We need more fencing, preferably 5' livestock panels and posts; wooden or t-posts. Goats love to climb, we would love to be able to build them a bridge to climb onto.

4. Volunteer! You can visit more than just the goats!

Members of the CSU Pre-Vet Club gave a helping hand here at Denkai September 19.

This group was absolutely amazing, from riding horses to cleaning pens, sanitizing tack, stacking hay, cleaning the barn and much more. This amazing group literally saved our Director months worth of work.

We owe these students an enormous thank you!