Refuge River Ranch

06/29/2023

Blue Boy is at Pilchuck and today is his surgery day for his p***s amputation🙏
Once his cancerous tumor is removed (and his p***s) he will be able to p*e through a hole instead of a p***s. He will not have anymore pain and will be able to lead a happy healthy life for many more years the surgeon says.
Someone was kind enough to donate $25, so thank you very much! I have already paid $350 for diagnosis appointment last week and another $3,500 for the surgery down payment yesterday and the total cost should be around $5,000, although I have not received the final bill yet. Plus follow-up appointments and travels. So if anyone would like to help give to Blue Boys amputation, there is a "donate button" at the top right of the Ranch website https://www.refugeriverranch.com/
Thank you all, and I will keep you updated.

06/25/2023

P***s Amputation🥹😢:
Blue Boy had an urgent run to Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital in Snohomish. He is dripping blood out of his p***s. After they sedated him and where able to pull it out, it was an instant diagnosis, almost a 360 degree giant squamous cell tumor (common in light colored horses). He will have to have his p***s amputated this week to live. The good news is, after his surgery the surgeon said he has a great outcome for many more years! The Ranch has been closed for tours all year, so donations are welcomed. Either way, I will make sure Blue Boy gets what he needs for a good life!❤

06/25/2023

P***s Amputation🥹😢:
Blue Boy had an urgent run to Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital in Snohomish. He is dripping blood out of his p***s. After they sedated him and where able to pull it out, it was an instant diagnosis, almost a 360 degree giant squamous cell tumor (common in light colored horses). He will have to have his p***s amputated this week to live. The good news is, after his surgery the surgeon said he has a great outcome for many more years! The Ranch has been closed for tours all year, so donations are welcomed. Either way, I will make sure Blue Boy gets what he needs for a good life!❤

05/07/2023

Here at Refuge River Ranch,
these animals have no idea they are different.
They just know they are friends.

04/29/2023

Jack and Jinny living it up! It's hard to believe that less than a year ago these two were completely wild and couldn't be touched. Now they are like little puppy dogs❤️.
Happy and Heathy, at only 30" tall, these two are considered "miniature donkeys". Adorable!

04/23/2023

No one love the sun more than Big Mama!☀️❤️☀️❤️

02/18/2023

💕Volunteers Needed💕 Refuge River Ranch rescue is in need of volunteers. It is a once a week commitment (morning or evening). You can do it with a friend or spouse or alone if you just want the time to yourself. All volunteers need to attend a training session where you can see if this is a good match for you before you make the weekly commitment. Caring for these special-needs animals is no small task and requires a small village of loving and passionate people! Please PM me if you'd be interesting in joining our Farm Fam.

01/14/2023

Please share and sign the petition to save Refuge River Ranch. We meet with the county next week!
shorturl.at/bhJN0

Save Refuge River Ranch

01/13/2023

Refuge River Ranch took the rescue goats to the Icicle Village Resort 30th Anniversary tonight and we had a great time. The goats loved all the attention!!

01/08/2023

Refuge River Ranch is in need of volunteers. If you love animals and have a passion for rescuing and caring for the ones no one else wants, then we would love to have you join our team. It is a one morning a week commitment and you can do it with a friend or spouse or alone if you just want the time to yourself. There is a 2 hour training session where you can see if this is a good match for you before you make the weekly commitment. You will then be place on our team messenger thread where you can ask questions to other volunteers or switch days with someone if there is a day you will be unable to make your shift. Caring for these special-needs animals is no small task and requires a small village of loving and passionate people! Please PM me if you'd be interesting in joining our Farm Fam so we can schedule you for a training and you can see if this is the right fit.

01/06/2023

Death causes rehoming and we are happy to help! Refuge River Ranch

01/04/2023

❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️The county is trying to shut down our Rescue - Refuge River Ranch. Please sign the Petition and SHARE!! Clink this link to sign the petition: shorturl.at/bhJN0

01/03/2023

Our Farm Rescue needs your help! Please sign and share!
https://www.change.org/p/save-refuge-river-ranch?recruiter=641328296&recruited_by_id=d8310130-b1c6-11e6-ae44-938e5c75533a

Save Refuge River Ranch

12/22/2022

😢WHEN IT RAIN IT POORS! 😢 As if there hasn't been enough hardship lately, now the ❗️county is shutting Refuge River Ranch, the local farm rescue, down❗️. In 2018 I was told I could operate without at CUP under "farm". Now in 2022 I was given a citation and ordered to cease operations or be fined $750 to $1500 a day.❗️ We don't even make that in a week. I'm exhausted with disposing of a horse, setting my alarm clock for the middle of the night to break ice in waters and blanket animals, snow plow, trying to raise to boys over the holidays, sell a house, and all the other things I won't say...but I just don't think I have the resources or anymore energy in me to fight this legal battle too. Please pray for my kids and I as we surrender to whatever God's will be in this next season of life and that no weapon formed against us shall prosper! Thank you for your love and support of this rescue it has meant so much to me!

12/20/2022

Saying our goodbyes...RIP Crystal. Our 30 year old, second generation desert Arabian mare, with a club foot, who had chewed down her last back chew teeth and ate only pre-made baby food, colliced today and now is in a much better place. We had her for 8 years and she was a sweet-sweet old gal. We love you Crystal Girl!

12/15/2022

It's listed and live: https://www.zillow.com/.../8200-E.../85981418_zpid/
LOCATION . LOCATION . LOCATION!
Breaks my heart, but I know when God shuts one door, He opens another!

For sale This 4488 square foot single family home has 5 bedrooms and 4.0 bathrooms. It is located at 8200 E Leavenworth Rd Leavenworth, Washington.

12/15/2022

Duchess is our livestock guardian dog at Refuge River Ranch, here she is doing her job and protecting the rescue animals.

11/30/2022

The Donkeys are back from 15 days at WSU's large animal hospital! I know it's late on Giving Tuesday night, but their bill is $2422 plus 2 9 hour round trips of gas and a hotel. If anyone would like to contribute to the care of these 2 rescue donkeys, there is a secure donate button on www.refugeriverranch.com

11/28/2022

Leavenworth, WA has snow! Come take a tour of Rescue Farm Animals at Refuge River Ranch

11/23/2022

Update on Jack and Jinny. BAD NEWS: They are still at WSU and they will be keeping them over the holiday to find out more about their heart issues. They have been there for 8 days and they haven't gained a single pound. They will try them on a new diet tomorrow of mash, they have tried unlimited hay, and even fresh grass. Jack in continuing to not be able to stand on his own and even though they have him on a thick bed of shavings, he has cut up his knees trying to stand this last week. They informed me of this today and said that they have now padded them so they don't get worse. At this point there are still no answers.
GOOD NEWS: They are in the best hands at WSU and I'm informed they have become celebrities! Everyone coming through wants to see the 30" shaggy donkeys. I am also told that the students are treating them extra well!! They are getting brushed 3 times a day and taken on walks for fresh grass twice a day. It's an all you can eat buffet and I bet they are loving it there!💕

11/15/2022

Donkeys on their way to WSU, Cows heading to vet tomorrow, Blue Boy is all better and Duke the Ranch dog is now limping 🤷‍♀️
Rescues are "fun" here at Refuge River Ranch 🤦‍♀️

11/13/2022

Yep, this IS my bathroom.
And a photo of the aftermath🤣...don't try this at home
Update, this worked, and I just released them out into the sun to reacclimate. Jack was found laying in the mud with a hyperthermic body temperature! He left the house this morning with his strength back and a normal body temp!😍. I will continue to monitor them...

11/11/2022

Update: Blue has pooped 5 times! We are gradually increasing his food and we will continue to monitor him closely.

Blue Boy is a 22 yr old quarter horse here at Refuge River Ranch.

11/05/2022

❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️We are completely flooded out. And this is just the start of these rains. The cows don’t have a dry spot in their entire pen, even their shelter has flooded. I opened up their gate so they can go out into the alpaca pen. The water is so deep the chickens won’t to go to their hen house. The water is up to my calves in the goat pen. I will have to cancel tours tomorrow and bring in help. ***We need muscle, shovels, gravel and stall mats***. I am thinking of raising the ground with gravel in the Donkey and Cow shelters And then covering with stall mats. Also digging drainage ditches. I’m not sure what else to do. Luckily it’s warmer out tonight, but the temperatures are going to drop into the teens, we have a warning for a wind storm on the way, and the rain just keeps coming! If you can help tomorrow, wear your rain boots and bring a shovel! I will try to find a source for gravel first thing in the morning.

10/21/2022

🏆🥇🏆 I met with some animal nutritionists on Tuesday who walked Refuge River Ranch with me and assessed all of the animals. They took samples of all the different types of hay back to their lab for nutrition testing. After body scoring the animals, to testing their current foods, we will be able to maximize their nutrition.
They both commented on how well cared for our rescue animals are here. That makes me feel great and it should make the volunteers here feel great too, because they are a big part of their care! Way to go to an amazing team of volunteers (my farm fam)!!!❤️

10/11/2022

❗️Yikes! ❗️Panic!! With rainy season and winter right around the corner, 💦❄️it dawned on me that we need 2 more shelters for the new donkeys and the baby cows! ☔️❄️💦 This investment cost Refuge River Ranch about 💵$9,800, but these are solid and tall enough for a horse. We love that they are on solid metal skids and can be pulled around the property with the tractor, 🚜 allowing us to be flexible with the changing of rescue animals, pens/pastures. A big thank you to Palouse Ranches for a quick delivery and easy order😊

10/11/2022

SALE: Organic Free Range with the Bloom still on! 18 eggs for $10. This week only.

10/05/2022

Update on choking horse: So it's been a week and we started Crystal (29yrs old) on a liquid diet last week after her choking episode and emergency vet run. Gradually throughout this week we were thickening her food to a soft mash and now she is being tested on some short grass here at Refuge River Ranch and she is doing great! But due to her age and lack of teeth, Crystal will be on a "short-grass and baby food" diet for the rest of her years. Crystal has Cushings disease which is found in 8 out of 10 of the older horses and a club foot, so she requires some extra special care, but we are happy to be able to give it to her❤️

09/29/2022

EMERGENCY VET RUN, oldest horse chokes

09/10/2022

The babies are home from WSU College of Veterinary Medicine and getting medicine, re**al temperatures and close monitoring daily. They will need to return to WSU in 4 weeks for possible dehorning, castration, and vaccinations. All of which they were too weak to safely do for the 7 days they were in the hospital. The work, care and even the vet bills continue! Please consider giving to help us get these guys on their feet as we provide loving forever homes to farm animal rescues in need. Thank you from Refuge River Ranch Here is a photo of Josh who is a 4th year medical student at WSU who took such great care of our baby dairy rescue cows. Thank you Josh! Please donate here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1307639519773605/

08/30/2022

Pray for Betsy and Handsome! 🙏 They have taken a sudden turn for the worse.
We woke up to a whirlwind morning: Handsome's health has taken a dive again with panting, fever, diarrhea and coughing. This is the video I sent to WSU vet. We raced to tie our tarp up in the back of the car (see posted video below), make arrangements and get both cows in the car. With a tour this morning, kids first day of school tomorrow with open house today...luckily my intern volunteered to make the drive! It was a rush because, if what I suspect (phenomena), they typically have 24-48hrs and he is already weak from his last spout of scours! He may be a "failure to thrive" calf. We don't know if he got any colostrum at birth either. All we know is that he was NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE. The dairy used sexed s***m, so that they never have boys, only baby girls. But God had other plans and out popped Handsome! ❤️ He may just be the cow that always has issues, but we love him just the same and we will make every effort to save him! Since transportation is very stressful on baby cows, we knew there was a chance he wouldn't make the 4.5 hour trip (but needs a facility that has the ability and equipment for his lungs...WSU!) so we put Betsy in the car too to help with his stress...They made the trip and have just arrived! However, Betsy started coughing during the trip😭...the doctor just called and they will keep both of them over night (possibly longer) until they know what is going on and can get them strong enough from the trip home. They are having their initial examination now, will run some tests and give them both IV fluids. The quote for this initial eval work is $650. After this they will have a better idea and come up with the next steps needed. My guess is, they will have to keep them for at least a few days and assuming all goes well...then I will make the drive and bring them home.🙏🙏.
Refuge River Ranch is not self sufficient yet, so if you would like to help by making a gift to these two babies, any amount is welcomed and we thank you in advance!
To donate, click here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1307639519773605/1307643463106544/

08/28/2022

🎉🎈Congratulations JJ Nicole Kells for winning the Big Mama stuffy!!!🎈🎉
Pigs are arguably one of the fifth smartest animals in the world! They have an IQ of a 4 year old child and can even play video games with more accuracy and precision than a chimpanzee! There are different types of intelligence. Pigs score so high in social intelligence, that's what ranks them as possibly one of the fifth smartest animals in the world! They are incredibly social and fun with big personalities! One of Big Mama's favorite pastimes is collecting rocks. They are all about a certain size, she finds them, cleans them in her mouth and then spits them into the bottom of her water tub. When we clean out her tub we find 30-40 rocks all about the same size. We remove them and scatter them around her pen and the game starts all over again! Come meet Big Mama at Refuge River Ranch and see for yourself how toddler like she is!

08/26/2022

Be a farmer for an hour and a half one morning a week at Refuge River Ranch!🤠

08/21/2022

FUN!!! Ok, Refuge River Ranch is going to do a week long drawing each month! This month we are featuring our rescue Big Mama! You will learn her story, see some fun footage and be able to enter your name into a drawing, all while supporting the work of the Ranch and our rescues. Once we say "GO" you will have a week to enter your name. We will be giving away one of our Big Mama "stuffies" this month! This will be a great way to support your favorite rescue animals and learn all about them at the same time!
This is a 30" Miyoni, Eco Friendly plush stuffy. Free entries with a minimum gift to the Ranch of $5 we will enter you name into the drawing or for minimum gifts of $20 you will get your name entered 5 times. If you live locally, you can come pick up your pig in person and get your photo taken with the real Big Mama!
See gifting options in the comments and if you are doing it by mail, make sure checks have time to get here before next Sunday Aug 28th
Ready....set...."GO"!

08/11/2022

Update on the cows: Cows are doing great, but my intern and I were in the thick of it (cow diarrhea for a week) and now we both have a bug. I have been flat on my back and today I went to the walk-in only to be transferred to the ER for fluids in Wenatchee. 🤮. That's right, we have cow love exploding out of us!🥰
So tours have been closed and will remain closed tomorrow and then we will see about Friday and Saturday after tomorrow. But look at this cutie...totally worth it❤️

07/31/2022

This sweet boy we decided to name Handsome! He has a perfectly shaped heart in the middle of his forehead. He is a fighter and we are going to nourish him back to health with love at Refuge River Ranch He is not eating and he has diarrhea and he very dehydrated and won't take the bottle, he is too weak, so I am syringing milk replacer twice a day (morning and night and then electrolytes 6 hours in between the milk (noon and 2am), and then water in between all of that. It takes about 2 hours for each. I'm spending at least 12 of my 24 hours on him a day, and the rest, I'm trying to hose off all the other rescue animals in this heat...I'm wiped!...but look at this face, it's worth it!❤️ Follow our rescues stories here on Facebook and if in Leavenworth, come take an educational hands-on tour.

Refuge River Ranch Tours: The Ranch Experience Book your Refuge River Ranch Tours: Click below to book tour Refuge River Ranch is a family friendly ranch that offers daily hands-on educational tours, known as “The Ranch Experience.” When you arrive at Refuge River Ranch you will be amazed at the...

07/31/2022

2 baby dairy cow rescues in the car and on the way back to Refuge River Ranch. 5 hours in the car with the windows down due to smell. We made it back to the ranch and the boy is not doing well.

07/30/2022

We have Baby Dairy Rescue Cows!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Follow our baby dairy cow rescue adventure videos here on Refuge River Ranch