Animal Ashram

08/01/2023

06/01/2023

CONNEMARA PONIES!

As you drive through Connemara you might be lucky enough to spot some Connemara ponies, like these beauties photographed recently by a local man. The origin of the Connemara pony has been lost in the mists of time. Some believe they developed from ponies brought to Ireland by the Vikings. Another likely source was the Irish Hobby, a now-extinct breed established prior to the 13th century. Legend would have us believe (and my romantic mind concurs) that galleons from the Spanish Armada ran aground in 1588, and that the Andalusians on board were set loose and interbred with wild native ponies. However they arrived, they had to evolve quickly in order to survive, but fortunately the harsh weather and unforgiving landscape soon developed a breed both resiliant and intelligent.

Early Irish farmers had large families to feed and could usually afford only one good pony. This often came from a wild herd and had to be caught and 'gentled'. The pony would be required to pull a plow or a cart carrying either seaweed from the shore, hay from the fields or potatoes and turf to market, as well as people of course.

Most of Connemara’s wild ponies have been rounded up and broken now and those you see roaming the wilds of Connemara are probably owned. They didn't become an officially recognised breed until 1926 but now Connemara ponies are bred all over the world. 🥰

(M) 💚

Pic. Peter Declan Guy
via Scenic Connemara Ireland

06/01/2023

This homeless man's rabbit was thrown over a bridge by a passerby in Dublin, Ireland, and he immediately jumped in to the river to save her and resuscitated her. He won an award, was given animal food and a job, and the passerby was charged with animal cruelty....

05/01/2023

05/01/2023

04/01/2023

Awesome for elderly dogs!

03/01/2023

Seeing people come to buy fish and handing the owner, money, this cat went out and got a leaf to pay for her fish. On the first day, the owner of the shop thought this was very cute, so he gave her a small fish. Now everyday this cat comes in to buy a fish with a leaf.

09/12/2022

07/12/2022

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
Anatole France

Paula Belle Flores - Dancing in the Rain.

03/12/2022

27/11/2022

Patrick Dexter Cello
October 7
·
Nothing Compares 2 U by Prince, made famous by Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor. I feel I should explain my dog Nisha staring out towards our garden gate. Earlier this week my dog’s best friend (my parent’s dog Jessie the collie) sadly passed away. We all miss her so much 😢

Since Jessie’s passing, Nisha has developed the habit of staring longingly towards the garden gate and out at the valley beyond. It’s as if she is waiting for her old friend Jessie to arrive for a visit any minute. Or, maybe she can sense the presence of her best friend, now a ghost spending her time doing what she loves best, swimming in the cold Atlantic Ocean. Or perhaps, like the rest of us, she is just grieving.

The lyrics have been on my mind as I watch Nisha long for her old best friend. The song may be about lost love, but it has always been for me about grief “It’s been so lonely without you here
Like a bird without a song

Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling” - Prince 1985

23/11/2022

23/09/2022

Hello everybody! The past week has been so busy and we didn't have much time to edit new videos but in just 7 days we filmed the rescue of 15 dogs and 8 cats in many different locations: in the L.A. River, down in the sewer, far out in the desert, under cars, in a junkyard, and more 🐶💖😺

I just updated our Hope For Paws website where you can watch AT LEAST 8 videos you haven't seen before: https://www.HopeForPaws.org

The main one I am featuring today is the rescue of a goose I rescued with Judith Sanchez - it was the first time I attempted something like this, and it worked! 😎👍

This photo is a photo update of her happy and healthy - it's so cool she keeps visiting Judith's yard every day 😊

If you haven't done so and if you can, please join us with a small monthly donation. Our vet bills are huge and in addition to all the street rescues we do, we're helping so many surgical cases coming from the different shelters.

Thank you so much!

Eldad

09/09/2022

01/09/2022

"So I’m driving down the road this morning and the cars in front of me are driving over a black thing in the road. It’s going between their tires so I’m guessing it’s a box. It’s a kitten just sitting upright shaking like a leaf. And some idiot had spread glue on its paws and stuck it to the road. I thought maybe it walked through glue somewhere but after looking at it, that was totally spread into her paws. She was wet and freezing and literally glued to the road. And NO ONE STOPPED. 😳 What the f$&k people??? I slammed on my brakes and stopped all the traffic and put my hazards on and got out and pealed her off the road. People were honking and all pissy....really??? It’s a kitten glued to the road!! So after a goo gone bath and some food and cream we have a new kitten. Luckiest kitten in the world!"

Source: Chuck Hawley

01/09/2022

In the summer of 1923, Frank and Elizabeth Fraser and their two-year-old dog set out from Oregon, Indiana, to visit family. When they stopped for gas at a service station in Indiana, the dog was attacked by other three dogs and fled.
They searched everywhere for him, but in the end could not find him. They returned to Oregon heartbroken, believing they would never see their beloved dog again. After losing all hope, one day their daughter saw a skinny and exhausted dog on the street that looked like Bobby. After his joyful reaction, it turned out to be the missing dog Thanks to the people who sheltered him during the journey, they were able to reconstruct the complete route he crossed.
To see his family again, he crossed almost 2500 miles (4,000 kilometers) in six months. He hiked across the Rocky Mountains in the middle of winter and ended up being nicknamed "Bobby the Wonder Dog." He was the inspiration for the movie "Lassie Returns".

31/08/2022

" This summer when it got so hot in Missouri, a woman started putting bowls of ice out for the squirrels in her yard. This little guy was so grateful, he fell asleep cooling off on top of one..."❤

30/08/2022

Three neonatal kittens were found without their mama on a construction site, where they were no longer welcome. The finder tried local shelters, but they are not accepting kittens and local veterinarians said they would kill them. And while this happened in the San Francisco Bay Area, it is also happening in Texas, New York, Florida, Tennessee, and elsewhere under a disastrous program called Human Animal Support Services. Under HASS, orphaned kittens are not the only ones to suffer. Dogs and other animals do, too.

In other news this week:

- Another carriage horse collapsed in New York City, renewing calls to ban carriage horses and replace them with antique-looking electric cars.

- Like people after a long absence, dogs shed tears of joy when reunited with family.

- New legislation introduced in California “would bring more wildlife crossings to our highway system,” reducing the number of animals killed on our roads.

- As more people turn to rescue and adoption and more shelters embrace progressive policies, the number of communities placing over 95% and as high as 99% of the animals is increasing.

- Burger King is test marketing a vegan chicken sandwich, Taco Bell is test marketing vegan “beef” tacos and burritos, and Nestle launched a vegan KitKat.

- A director hired to socialize dogs at Los Angeles Animal Services admits he is scared of big dogs, but not the little ones because he can “strike them.”

- The St. Louis County Animal Shelter illegally killed a woman’s dog and is now trying to prevent her from going public with her story.

- Rosenberg, TX, used to kill roughly 70% of the animals. After embracing the No Kill Equation, it had a placement rate of 99% for dogs, 96% for cats, and 96% for rabbits and other small animals. That effort and those results are now threatened because the director left and the city wants to embrace “Human Animal Support Services,” a regressive effort designed to artificially increase placement rates by closing the shelter’s doors to needy animals.

- Pearland, TX, is killing microchipped cats at the shelter, and cat caretakers are “being investigated, fined and surveilled by the city’s animal control department — some for weeks at a time.”

- Likewise, the La Junta, CO, city council recently passed a local law making it illegal to feed or care for community cats. It is a cruel ordinance that punishes compassion.

- Shelter Animals Count, a national database of adoption and killing rates, is hiding the data to protect poorly performing shelters.

- “Abuse an animal, go to jail” is a good policy. But some advocates of critical race theory are calling for non-prosecution of neglect cases and no prison for intentional abuse, even in cases of torture and killing.

And more.

This Week in Animal Protection is here: https://bit.ly/3QXdr25.

Subscribers can also listen to it as a podcast, which includes extended commentary on many of the issues, including why studies about animal emotions and intelligence are important to giving animals more legal protection even though their findings are often obvious; as well as why backsliding in places like Rosenberg, TX, San Francisco, CA, and other communities embracing “Human Animal Support Services” harms animals, including orphaned kittens, and prevents future progress, especially of “behavior” dogs.

If you are not a subscriber, sign up while there to receive an email whenever a new article or podcast is published.

28/08/2022

Please enjoy this photo of manatees on a preserve in Florida snacking on sweet potatoes, while also looking like sweet potatoes. ❤ They're so amazing!

📸 Kelly Hayes

28/08/2022

Anyone who doesn’t realize these beautiful souls have hearts and emotions and families has simply spent no time with them or paid attention. We had to euthanize Ajax this afternoon. It was gut wrenching, heart breaking and a loss that will never be filled. Quarter Quarter - on the right - loved this big draft gentleman. He was one of a kind amazing and gentle and taught this little man all about being a horse. So I wanted him to be able to say goodbye to Ajax and find an understanding in his own way as to why he was going to be gone and never come back. I didn’t want Ajax to just “disappear” and Quarter look and cry for him as I have seen happen with others.

Quarter spent over an hour trying to get Ajax up. He pulled on him. He bit him. He pawed him. He pushed him. He whinnied at him. Over and over for more than sixty agonizing minutes. When I or his mama tried to move him away or console him he laid his ears back, bared his teeth and pushed us away from Ajax’s body. He was guarding him and wanted nobody near. Finally, he fell to the ground next to Ajax and cried. I don’t really care if anyone believes a horse can cry, this little man did and it has left me sobbing for three hours. Deep, guttural wails of grief. And so he lay, until his mama finally forced him to his feet and we were able to move him out of the riding arena so we could take Ajax away.

The lessons we could learn that are right in front of us that so many simply can’t see. This is family. This is grief. This is love. It just looks different.

28/08/2022

He let go of the swan stuck in the net, and as he held it in his arms he felt his heartbeat gradually calm down, and then the swan wrapped his neck around his.
How valuable it is to feel the trust of an animal!❤️

28/08/2022

My own little dog has always been special. He was re****ed after being hit on the head when he was a baby. It never bothered me and I never saw it as a problem even though people secretly called him re****ed, dumb and such.
Today we turn 19 full of happiness!!!!! I am very happy to have you in my life!!! Thank you for living 17 wonderful years together and as many more as you want! Thank you for never listening to people but only to me, mom, who adores you!! You are the most beautiful soul"

23/08/2022

Giant baby stalking the area. When turkey vultures walk they remind me of a human if they were holding up their pant legs to keep them from getting wet.