This week at the Rescue

Due to recent scheduling weirdness, I missed two weeks at the Rescue :(  I don't like it when I can't volunteer, as I find that being at the Rescue and working with the animals really calms my mind and greatly reduces my stress level.  Needless to say, I feel much better after visiting with everyone last night.

I started with cleaning the pig's stall.  It turns out that his name isn't Evan, it's Winston.  Oops!

Nice and warm in the straw

Winston is getting much more social - he barely hesitated to eat out of my hand this time!  He's still not keen on people attempting to pet him, but he's still improving in leaps and bounds due to the dedication of Nicola, her adorable daughter, and the other volunteers.

Next, I mixed up feed for 2 meals for Darcy and Fin, who are still on special diets to help them gain weight.  One meal stayed in the feed room to be put out the next morning, and I took the other meal out to them.  Darcy is looking much better (though it was dark out) - his winter coat is coming in and his hip bones are much less pronounced.

Here's Darcy when he first came to the rescue:

Image from the PGER website

And here's Darcy at the beginning of October, a few weeks after he arrived:

And he's even better now, but I can't get a picture because it's usually dark when I'm there.  He's been wearing a blanket since he got to the rescue, but he's now gained enough weight that the blanket is less important - he wasn't wearing one last night, and it was about -6 out.  (Plus the blanket would discourage the growth of his winter coat.)  I'll try to grab a photo of Darcy when I'm there during the daylight, hopefully next week.

After I fed the boys, I walked John Boy, who was gelded recently.  He came in from a property down the road where he has lived with a rotating cast of caregivers for the last few years.  He hasn't been moving around as much as he should be in the last few days, so I grabbed his halter and headed out to take him for a stroll down the driveway.  On the way, I passed a wagon with one and a half square bales of hay for the pigs.  On top of the bales, I saw this:

Rawr!

Just in case my night wasn't already awesome, that was the icing on the cake :)

I woke up John Boy, and took him for his walk.  He was well behaved, if a bit slow and cautious.  I don't blame him!

Then I got to pick who I groomed.  One horse that used to be a favourite was Dominic, and I was sad to see that he has returned to the rescue after a failed adoption.  He came when I called him, and while he had a bit of a fit while I brushed him down (the kids were playing nearby, which may have startled him), he was otherwise just as sweet as I remember him.  Poor guy, it's unfortunate that his adoption didn't work out (though I'd rather he be at the Rescue than in a situation where he was not receiving proper attention and care).  Hopefully he'll find another great family soon!