Mending Souls

01/14/2025

"NOW is the ideal time time to spay and neuter feral and stray cats to get ahead of kitten season and end the breeding cycle before it starts.

Female cats are seasonally polyestrous. Which means that they have multiple estrus cycles during the breeding season. As the amount of daylight begins to increase at the winter solstice, the reproductive cycle of intact females kicks into gear, and most will go into heat by late January. A female cat will keep coming back into heat every 1 to 2 weeks until she gets pregnant, or the amount of daylight decreases (October). The feline gestation period is about 63 days, so the first kittens of the season will start arriving in late March." ~My Feral Fix

Contact your local TNR organizations to get ahead of the unwanted breeding!!

01/11/2025

Golden has found his forever home 🎉 We're so happy for this old man to finally have a loving, safe place to spend his *golden* years!
Aaaand we're also proud to report that he shed a couple of those extra pounds during his weeks here, so he's going into his new home feeling younger, looser, and healthier!

01/06/2025

Happy National Bird Day!! 🦜(I almost missed it!)

Parrots were some of the first exotic animals that I ever worked with, at my first zoological job at 18yrs old. Their beaks scared me! I didn't understand how they communicated. But I spent a lot of time managing the aviary & I became fascinated with their intelligence. After park hours, when the guests were gone, I started to form bonds with 2 of our most untrusting parrots (an Amazon with 1 wing given up by her lifetime owner & an Eclectus that had poor experiences with humans & sat all day on the highest perch). Getting both of those birds to "step up" for me was one of the most rewarding experiences I can imagine!
After a few other jobs at a few other facilities, I circled back around to focus on birds. 2019 I spent an internship with the Dallas Zoo studying the training techniques used in free-flight bird shows. Incredible learning experience that I will never forget! I remember coming home & being determined to win the trust of my grandfather's parrot. To this day I am the only female that has ever had him step up without a bite. (Last photo)

Birds have taught me so much!! I never imagined falling in love with them, but if you keep an open mind you never know what might happen 😉

01/02/2025

Second intake of the year! 🐭
5 month old brother rats. Extremely friendly 💜
It can take time to find the right home to care for animals like this but whoever adopts them is going to get the most perfect, loving boys!

01/02/2025

First rescue of the year! 🐾
Everyone say hello to Keke 👋🏻
This morning I got a text asking to take her because the older male dog in the home did not appreciate his 6month old new sister. The owner said he tried for 5 weeks but his other dog got so depressed that he wouldn't come out anymore, so the decision was to let Keke go to a different home. We will be getting her vetted shortly & screening heavily for the right home! Welcome to the crew, Keke girl ☺️

01/01/2025

This was 2024! Thank you to all of our supporters 🙏🏻 Here's to a bigger & better 2025 ✨️

***all pets in this post have found homes***

12/23/2024

If you're considering buying a puppy in these next few days, PLEASE think long & hard about owning a dog for the next 10+ YEARS of its life. If you don't really want a dog PLEASE DONT BUY THE CHRISTMAS PUPPY!!!
Unfortunately the people who need to hear this are not the people following rescues' pages like mine.. it would be your peers & neighbors. Please share on your timelines & neighborhood groups if you feel appropriate. God Bless & Merry Christmas 🌟

12/22/2024

12/19/2024

This happens time & time again. Please think about what you're doing before impulsively deciding to get a pet!! Educate loved ones if you overhear plans to buy an animal for Christmas. They are not toys! They suffer for our lack of planning, commitment, or understanding of their needs.

Commitment to your animals should be non negotiable. Yes the novelty will wear off very quickly so THAT is where your years of commitment and love must be considered.

12/12/2024

Id like to (re)introduce Nova 💖
This dog was rescued almost 2yrs ago when she was 6 months old. No genetic or breed information is certain on her. She had a history of neglect & minor trust issues, but as a baby she didn't present with any aggression. Very submissive dog. We got her vetted up & adopted out.

Nova failed to thrive in her city home & was returned to us about a year later. She's now been up for (re)adoption SINCE JUNE and not a single serious interest has come forward!! Nova is a very loving dog who needs a specific household environment to make her feel secure, and an experienced owner who is confident in their understanding of dog behavior. She spiraled in her last home due to constant overstimulation and began showing aggression, BUT she has obedience training, feels secure in her crate, & she has thrived being back at the rescue (in a stable, rural environment).

So far we have only had a few inquiries based on her looks & nobody who can provide the stability she needs. She's a great dog in the right hands but I will not release her to somebody ill-equipped.

Interests MUST have the following:
- Ability to meet her (and me) locally. She will not be transported out.
- Moderate understanding of dog behavior.
- Willingness to hire a trainer if necessary.
- Private fenced yard. She cannot tolerate constant walks in public spaces.
- Child free home with minimal distractions. Nova would do best without any other pets & may need to be crated when guests come over.

11/27/2024

Everyone have a safe Thanksgiving!

11/17/2024

Jasper & Bella both found their forever homes this weekend! (Pictured is Jasper with his new brother). We've had a pretty busy week but it was all worth it 👌🏼

11/08/2024

CHECK YOUR LOCAL SHELTERS & RESCUES!! There are so many places desperate for fosters. Your perfect dog could be right down the road from you.
If you want a special breed that's "never in shelters" search for the regional breed-specific-rescue of that dog & get established with them! You could enjoy a temporary companion if you're not ready to commit to a dog's lifetime or maybe just check out your dream breed to see if you'd like to adopt your foster!

10/27/2024

Look at the cuteness we ran into yesterday!!
I was outside doing some lawn care when a little rabbit den was discovered in the middle of the doggy yard! These buns were not injured & would have normally been okay to leave alone & wait for mama's return, except their mama made the poor decision to leave them in the middle of our fenced area where the dogs go potty several times a day! Literally in the middle of an open field... She dug a fist-sized hole in the ground, planted her babies, and covered it with a layer of fur that we would have never noticed. It was actually a dog who alerted us to their presence!
Remaining in their den for several weeks of development would not have been safe to the bunnies with how often there are dogs exposed to that area. We don't have licensing to care for native wildlife species, so we called a nature center down the road to see if they would take them in. Quick road trip to Orlando & the baby bunnies are now safe with a rehabber!
I would love to hire a wildlife rehabber when we open our new facility. It's probably not something that I will get licensed to do myself, but definitely something I'd like to incorporate into the business. Lots of different avenues we can explore :) I can't wait to see what all lies ahead!

10/24/2024

*An update to our website being down*

As I had previously posted, it just recently came to my attention that the entire Mending Souls website was unavailable (including my business email associated) so I was really dreading how this may turn out....

Domain.com had been double charging me for a starter web-builder plan as well as an express builder plan (which can run your website entirely on its own & isnt an add on feature.)
When I caught onto the monthly payments (for 1 plan) being IN ADDITION TO a yearly renewal fee (for another plan) in addition to my yearly domain fee... I then contacted them to find out why I was being double charged. It turns out there is no phone number to contact them & you must debate any issues via chat with representatives who clearly don't speak fluent English. That should've been my sign to download my entire site immediately... But unfortunately I didn't know how to do so & didn't have the time to invest at that moment in becoming my own web design expert.

My chat at that point resulted in the following conclusions:
- I was being charged for both plans
- They can run independently & if I was using the express plan, the starter should've been voided. But no one informed me to go cancel it & they didn't have the efficiency to do so automatically, & no refund would be available for the months I was overcharged on a starter plan I was no longer using.
- The only special feature of the express plan is some extra template options which I don't believe I ever even signed up for.
- My website was allegedly running off of an express template & I would have to pay the higher plan fee to keep it running. BUT the starter plan could be canceled & my website would remain.
- I verified twice that canceling the starter plan would not destroy my website.

I had a bad feeling that my site would go down. But it didn't! At first... 🤔 I received an email that the starter plan would be canceled (as I intended) and I double checked a week later that my site was still active. Seemed good!! I relaxed. My bad..
What I apparently overlooked was 3 weeks later they canceled my autorenewal for the express plan as well. I was sent another email stating that something needed to be renewed & I ignored it thinking it was the *intended* canceled plan begging to be reinstated.

✨️ Something else I've found out is that Domain.com doesn't send second warning emails! Nor do they care to give proper headlines with proper warnings. This was the second time I had an issue with them saying "this information was in the email we sent" but the headline didn't set the proper tone that multiple consequences would unfold if ignored. ✨️
So a few months went by & I had no clue the website wasn't active. Someone brought it to my attention eventually. I had to set aside time to go thru a chat to find out what had happened & I knew it would be a nightmare to deal with... I asked so many questions & got so many indirect responses. They want no responsibility. I confirmed again which plan my website was running off of. I was told that I needed to renew my express plan. No reason why the auto renewal that was in place magically stopped, or why it was A MONTH AFTER I had contacted customer service to cancel the starter plan.. I go to click the renewal button & confirm AGAIN if my OLD WEBSITE WILL BE REINSTATED because it really looked like I was signing up to start all over. They said no your old website is gone. 😡

Soooooooo then I didn't need to reinstate the express plan, did I? I could've started over with the starter plan if I was starting over! What in the scam is this?!!

I apparently had a 15 day period to claim my website in a downloadable version before they had deleted everything for good. Again, this important information was all mentioned in the single email notice they sent me months ago, which was only headlined as a "notice for renewal". My biggest concern has now been confirmed - I will be rebuilding the website from scratch.
Good news is: I still own the domain. I've consulted professionals. I will be doing business with more honorable companies moving forward! I guess its all okay since we're in the middle of moving & reshaping, so the website can just start anew. But dang this is frustrating.

Takeaway notes - don't ever use Domain.com to host your website builder functions!! Warn your friends 🥲

Send a message to learn more

10/19/2024

Getting updates from our adopters are always the best messages!!
Some of you may remember Marley. I believe he was the first dog available to play for when we first partnered with Treat. He was adopted by a family in Canada who flew all the way down here to meet & adopt him ❤️ They absolutely adore him & it was the perfect home for him to thrive in!
Cory was also adopted several months ago. He too found the best family that was prepared to meet his needs. I'm so proud to see these boys loved & doing well!

This weekend we have 2 meet & greets scheduled for Nugget. Praying he meets his forever family! There's also a potential out of state adopter coming to meet Zoey next week. Very exciting!

10/11/2024

We're pretty good out here! Thanks everyone for checking in 💙 There's a bit of roof damage, a bit of water damage, and the slightest fence damage, but all in all everything is intact & animals are all ok. Power came back on this afternoon so thankfully all the food in our freezers was not lost! Internet signal is still down, I'm trying to avoid using too much data on my phone. We will be working on cleanup over the next several days but we made it out well. Didn't expect to see tornados popping up all over the state like they did, so we're absolutely thankful God saved us from that destruction! There's plenty of people who got it worse

10/08/2024

Florida Division of Emergency Management put out a reminder..

You may not want to evacuate, but there ARE pet friendly shelters!

You can check the status at http://FloridaDisaster.org/Shelter-Status.

Bring food, leashes/carriers & anything you need to keep your pet safe & comfortable.