Animals in Distress

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Animals in Distress Founded in 1977 as a sanctuary for abused and homeless animals, the shelter houses 400 cats and dogs at any one time. Donations make all this happen.

10/30/2026
10/30/2026

Every cat deserves a warm home, a full belly, and someone to love them. 🥹🐾❤️

The heartbreaking part is knowing there are so many out there still waiting for that love. We may not be able to save them all, but even the smallest act of kindness can mean the whole world to one little soul. 🐈💕

10/30/2026

July 1943. WWII. Rationing. Canned food went to the troops; fresh food barely made it to cities. The USDA said: "Plant Victory Gardens. Feed yourselves."

In McPherson County, Kansas, the men were gone — drafted or working war plants in Wichita. Left behind: 42 widows, average age 67, all from German Mennonite families. Their kids called them the "Garden Grandmas."

Problem: no men to plow, no gas for tractors. The county had one horse left — blind in one eye.

So Grandma Hilda Penner, 71, organized them. They used push plows from 1890, hooked four grandmas to a plow like oxen, and took turns, 6 AM to 9 PM. They broke 18 acres behind the church and planted everything: potatoes, beans, cabbage, onions. With no fences, they slept in shifts with brooms to beat off rabbits and deer.

They canned 9,000 quarts that fall and ran a depot out of the church basement. Rule: take what you need, leave what you can. Nobody in the county went hungry in winter '43. City folks from Wichita drove 60 miles with empty jars.

The War Department sent a man to film them. He said "smile." Hilda said: "We smile when the cellar's full." She was holding a plow, not a flag.

They kept it up till 1945. The last jar was dated August 14 — V-J Day. Hilda wrote on it: "We won too."

10/30/2026

🌙🐾 **THEY LOOK LIKE HALLOWEEN VILLAINS. BUT THEY’RE JUST WILDLIFE TRYING TO SURVIVE.**

Around this time of year, you might hear coyotes yipping behind your house, spot a toad near your porch, or discover a big black snake beside your shed.

Before you assume the worst, meet four backyard neighbors that deserve a little more understanding. 🍂

🐺 **1. Coyotes — The howling “pack”**
A few coyotes can sound like a much larger group. Their yips and howls help them communicate and keep track of one another.

🐸 **2. American toads — The supposed wart-givers**
Toads don't give you warts! These helpful insect-eaters feed on beetles and other small invertebrates in gardens and yards.

🦝 **3. Opossums — The animals people mistake for sick**
Hissing, showing their teeth, or playing dead can be defensive responses when they're frightened. Give them space, and they'll often move on.

🐍 **4. Eastern ratsnakes — The big black snake by the shed**
These nonvenomous snakes help control rodent populations. If you spot one, let it move away undisturbed.

🏡 **How to share your yard safely:**
✅ Secure trash and bring pet food indoors at night.
✅ Keep small pets close, especially after dark.
✅ Give snakes and opossums room to leave.
✅ Leave suitable natural shelter at the edge of your yard.

Wild animals aren't villains just because their behavior looks unfamiliar to us. Understanding them helps us coexist more safely.

🍁 **The costumes are scary. The animals mostly aren't.**

Which of these four animals do you think gets the most undeserved fear? Tell us below! 👇

10/17/2026

Plant for the pollinators 🌸🐝

10/17/2026

The same yard can be three different places, depending on what's left standing.

Not just the birds at the feeder. The toad under the steps. The bees on the last flowers. The chipmunk by the woodpile. The caterpillars nobody sees, feeding the chickadees everybody does.

🌳 The wild-edge yard

An oak in the corner. Native shrubs along the fence. Leaves left under the bushes. A patch of asters and goldenrod. A brush pile behind the shed.

Each layer is a home — canopy, shrubs, leaf litter, soil. Birds nest, bees overwinter, toads dig in, and the caterpillars that feed baby birds have something to eat.

🏡 The tidy yard

Mostly lawn, a few shrubs, mulch beds, everything raked and bagged in fall.

Some neighbors stay — the robin, the squirrel, the cardinal at the feeder. The ones that need leaves, stems, and native plants quietly move on.

🟩 The all-lawn yard

Grass edge to edge, mowed weekly. It looks clean. For wildlife it's close to empty: a robin hunting worms, a squirrel passing through.

Here's why it matters more than it sounds. A pair of chickadees needs thousands of caterpillars to raise one brood, and those caterpillars come from native plants, not lawn. A native oak feeds hundreds of kinds of them. Most non-native ornamentals feed almost none.

✅ Start small this fall:

- Turn one strip of lawn into a native bed
- Plant one native tree or shrub — oak, serviceberry, viburnum, winterberry
- Leave the leaves under the shrubs
- Let one corner stay a little wild

No perfect wildlife garden needed. Each square foot given back is one more place for a neighbor to live. 🌿

10/17/2026

“I know you don't like us. You call us dirty and a nuisance. But did you know we recognize human faces, form loving bonds, and care for our babies together?

We get cold. We get scared. And when the rain falls, we look for comfort too.

We're not asking you to love us. We're just asking you to remember that we're living creatures with families, feelings, and only one life to live.

Please be kind to us.

Address

P. O. Box 609, 5075 Limeport Pike
Coopersburg, PA
18036

Opening Hours

Tuesday 1pm - 4pm
Thursday 1pm - 4pm
Saturday 1pm - 4pm
Sunday 1pm - 4pm

Telephone

+16109669383

Website

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