Not all of the animals on the property are sanctuary residents – some are Ann’s personal pets. Her pets include a Rottweiler, two Quarter Horses, a Cockatoo and a Canary.

Kela the Rottweiler is an interesting dog. She’s very keyed into a "guard dog" mentality but once she trusts and recognizes you, she’d do anything for you. She also has a stomach of steel and eats ANYTHING! I wish I had better pictures of Kela but she’s the kind of dog you don’t want to bug with a camera. She’s a little on the unpredictable side. Please don’t misunderstand me - she’s really friendly but also has a very dominant streak. I love her to death though and thoroughly enjoyed having her by my side as I worked.




The two horses on the property are Mr. Big and Voodoo. Mr. Big is the old buckskin gelding and Princess Voodoo is the young mare. She’s supposed to be a Palomino but she has gotten pretty dark as she’s gotten older. I just love this picture I snapped of the two of them grazing…


Here is an up close picture of Biggie. (taken by someone else)


And here’s an amazing running shot of Voodoo. (taken by someone else)


Kalani is a Cockatoo and a very talkative and funny girl. She’s also the one animal that gave me the most headaches and heart attacks. Ann told me from day one that Kalani is definitely the most difficult and demanding animal at the sanctuary. She’s a very smart bird, as are all parrots, and can be most manipulative. After Ann left she essentially rejected the other intern and bonded closely to me. Ann reasons that she felt abandoned and so decided that she would put all her trust into me. Since she would no longer allow anyone (besides me) to handle her I wasn’t able to get a single day off during the two weeks when Ann was gone. We only began to understand how much she had rejected everyone else when she actually flew up into a tree because another volunteer tried to handle her. She never flies unless she feels very threatened. She always has her wings clipped but I guess they had grown just long enough for her to be able to glide. So yeah, I had to get her out of a tree where she was perched about 35 feet off the ground during a light rainstorm and she HATES rain. That’s the kind of stuff I’m talking about when I say this bird gives me heart attacks! But she was a very good girl and stepped into a net for me. If she hadn’t have done that I don’t know if I could have reached her! Although Kalani can be very frustrating she can also be very affectionate. I would cuddle with her for hours in the early afternoon. I would pet her and she’d get ecstatic and tell me "it’s so good."
These pictures were taken while she was dancing along to a song on the radio. Her crest was up and she was bobbing around…