09/01/2026
Cocklebur and his pals Monroe and Crockett are enjoying their pool and cool air blowing under their shade tree today. I shattered my phone and been trying to get numbers in the new one and accounts transfered, along with voicemail & messages caught up. If I missed any calls or messages I apologize, feel free to get back with me. I returned a message today and was asked my hours of operation. My hours are 24/7. I get a call, i go help. They said no, when is my gate open? They want to come visit the animals. See, hold, feed them ect. I said I can't legally do that and won't expose the animals to that. I was told that they will not think of donating to me or giving items to me if they aren't allowed to see the animals, like I'm some sort of petting zoo. The animals in my care get minimum human contact because they are WILD ANIMALS. They can literally die from stress and people near enclosures they don't know is a big stress. They freak when their vet comes. I pop in & out cleaning, feeding, and medical care when needed then leave them be. I was asked why I'm so special and can be around them? Really? Because I'm a permitted rehabber, a vet tech for over 20 years, and i put my heart & soul into these animals. Im qualified to care for them & I know what I'm doing. I bought land just for the wildlife rescue. Rehabbing wildlife is a hard full time job, on top of dealing with strict guidelines and in depth paperwork that has to be done and submitted, bills, veterinary records, vaccinations, cleaning cages & enclosures to ensure health and disease free environments, ordering feed & supplies, maintenance on cages & kennels, vehicle maintenance for calls, and trying to keep up social media so people can see what all goes into caring for the animals and see that rehabbers do not get paid a penny from dnr, state, government, and so much other work, time, blood, sweat, and tears. We pay to work our butts of and pray we can get donations in to help keep our doors open. Wildlife in our area need rehabbers or they get euthanized or told 'let nature take its course". Im sorry but some situations need a bit of love & compassion. Could u find a litter of baby racc**ns starving sitting beside their dead mom on the highway, and leave them to nature? Some people can, but i couldn't. Now, if you have a heart and want to help them, ur breaking the law. So...call a rehabber and hope they take them. This is why i got my permits. I have several rehabber friends and we all do it because we have an immense love for all animals and most of us worked several years as vet techs or with animals in some way. We saw first hand wildlide in desperate need of help, but noone in our areas to help. We have to know what we are doing and have years of training so we can provide adequate care to these animals. We take tests to qualify, if you have no history of education and work with veterinary medicine, you train under a certified rehabber until they know you can safely run a rescue and care for the animals. We have strict rules & guidelines we follow per the state we live in. We do this for the animals because our ultimate goal is to get them back to the woods healthy as quickly as possible, with the least amount of stress and human contact. We are qualified to hand raise babies but get them outdoors and learning to be wild ASAP. Yes, we do get attached and care immensely for the animals but we put our feelings aside to do what is best for them. Im not legally allowed to let people come to the rescue or visit, feed, pet, or hold wildlife. I cant even let my kids or family within 100 feet of them! Even if it was legal I wouldn't allow it. I didn't choose to open a petting zoo, I chose to help where I'm needed most. I try to post cute pics to help get donations in to help ALL the animals here. You don't see the big mean injured ones, or ones covered in mange, ones with maggots in wounds that we have to clean & care for, or any other thing that would make people squeamish. You don't see the babies or adults that get distemper and parvo that you try to save but watch die and tear your heart out because youve cared for them since theyre eyes were still closed.. You don't see the cemetery at the back of my property covered with tiny crosses and flowers. You don't see us with no sleep for days bottle feeding babies round the clock. You dont see us at the store buying supplies and someone says oh honey u have mustard in your hair, and u think crazy lady i didnt eat mustard. Then you realize you have baby c**n p**p in your hair or on your clothes...in public. You don't see us sleeping on the ground in enclosures with a sick animal hooked to IV's laying next to us...trying to keep their fluids and meds going in, without them pulling lines out. You don't see us crying worrying if someone will suprise us with a bag of puppy chow or can of milk replacer because the shelf is almost empty. You don't see our families missing us on special occasions because we were called out to help an animal. You dont see us scrubbing blood & puke off bedding, our cars, and ourselves. You dont see our scars from bites & scratches. You dont see us sleep in our garage for a week when a skunk finally tags us. And so much more bu****it we go through that people don't see. Then we get rude or mean people we deal with that try to tell us what we are doing wrong...that you don't see. Just remember this is some of the stuff we go through because we love animals and want to help. We are qualified too and damn good at what we do. Ill help anyone who wants to rehab wildlife get what they need to take tests or even shadow me. We need more rehabbers even if u just help a few a year, it makes a difference. If you love animals and appreciate people crazy enough to rehab them, show them. Send them a donation. Every little bit helps. Or just say thanks or let them know good people appreciate what they do. I still donate to other rehabbers if I have anything extra. I set out cans or raise money for wildlife any way I can. Hopefully I can get out and do some public fund raising soon, but I am so busy with animals just keeping up with Facebook in a chore. To all the awesome people that care, follow us, and to ones who have donated, or brought by eggs or bedding...THANK YOU. You may not realize how much it meant to me and to the animals I care so much for. And to anyone who just says a kind word thank you. If you don't care or want to be mean or act like an as***le, don't comment or tell me to call you. Just keep scrolling....
❤️ if you want to donate I have a gofundme pinned on top of my page, PayPal at porkyswildliferescue or send checks to shanell dixon at Porkys Wildlife Rescue 14254 N 1250 E Odon In 47562. ❤️
