Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary, 111 S. Lafayette Unit 284, South Lyon, MI (2026)

09/01/2026

“GET RID OF” are the three of the most heartless words heard in all of rescuing…whether for dogs, cats, bunnies, ducks or any other pet. The words are compassionless and cold. Said freely, and usually without reservation.

Often insinuating a need to relieve the individual of a bothersome or inconvenient nuisance. In some cases, this may not be the intended directive, but in many, I assure you it is! Especially when it is followed by ‘today, or tomorrow’!

Pets are not trash, they are not yesterday’s news. It is not their fault that you made a very bad decision. It is not their fault that your whim or impulse didn’t fit into your very short term, unthought out plan.

Please just show even a little more compassion for the living creatures that you displaced for your experimental trial run.

‘Rehome’ is a much more caring term. I realize that some people don’t really think how they phrase things, but after 20 years of doing this, we have a good idea when certain people say. ‘Get rid of’, we know they’re real intention. But again, not all of them are from a heartless perspective. .

To the stores that sell them…it is easy to say people didn’t have to buy them and that it was their decision, which I wholeheartedly agree with, but if you think that can give you a clear conscience, and if you don’t think you could do a better job of informing purchasers of the dos and don’ts of animal ownership, especially ducks, which are a more uncommon breed of pet, then perhaps you really are a bigger part of the problem then you want to believe.

Please, all sides, do better!! For the animal’s sake!

On much more positive note, we received a call the other day about four domestic Pekin ducks that were apparently dumped in Fenton and showed up on the finders property. The first one showed up about a month ago, and the other three over the past week or two. Sadly, they were trying to live off the land, which for a domestic duck, is very difficult to do. They need the protection of secure housing, proper nutrition, and someone to care for them, someone much unlike the heartless individual that let them loose, to eventually suffer and die.

Within about an hour or two, Mike was able to make his way over there and scoop them up. The first couple of angels were less difficult than the final two, but all in all, they have found refuge here at the sanctuary.

If any of you have the ability to make even a small donation, it would be greatly appreciated. We know times are a little tougher than usual, and it is definitely felt throughout the rescue world. Everyone is vying for that fleeting dollar. We have so many stories to tell, but sometimes life gets in the way and we can’t tell them daily, even when we know that it is our lifeline to donations. Thank you!! So much going on, so little time, and so much to say, and we will!
Your support means the world to us!

And as always, volunteer opportunities are also what keeps us going! Two hours a week, for one day, can bring tremendous satisfaction into an another wise complacent life. Is there a two hour block, once a week in your life, that you could give up to help neglected animals in need? Two hours? Help us be a part of our next story!

PAYPAL
http://www.michiganduckrescueandsanctuary.com/donate/

https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3300998449725440369&created=1722191585.337092&printed=1

Zelle: 248-446-2021

Cash App: $lyson

07/28/2026

And just like that… She was in Heaven!

In an extremely heartbreaking and unexpected turn of events yesterday afternoon, our little Mika Mama took that walk that every dog owner knows will someday come. But when it’s totally unexpected, the experience is sadly multiplied exponentially. Such was the case with our little angel Mika.

What was supposed to be a routine vet visit for some heartworm prevention medication and a basic checkup, turned into a very heart wrenching loss of the sweetest little stinker at the Sanctuary.

Mika was a 12 year-old, very independent prima donna that did everything on her terms. She would let you pet her on her terms, touch her on her terms, then just be near her on her terms. A few things she’d loved to do…run outside every Saturday morning and get her a special treat from Janeen, make rounds to the volunteers that she chose to be around, and cause havoc for her older brother Tex, who is seven times her weight and size.

Theresa had called me shortly into her visit with the vet, and told me I needed to get over there right away because Mika had a bad turn of events and was not doing well within an unexpected respiratory issue. Apparently the short time outside caused severe breathing issues, and after some x-rays, it was found that she had a massive growth in her upper chest area that was putting a lot of pressure on her esophagus. Apparently it was only allowing her to breathe through an area, the thickness of a piece of thick string. She was given anti-inflammatories and steroids to try to give her some relief, but after some time in the oxygen tent, she was having zero improvement.

The doctor thought she should be euthanized, which was absolutely unexpected and not going to happen. Theresa and I decided we would take her home and just pray for the best. And if things got so bad, she would either pass on her own or we would take her and have her euthanized ourselves. But she was going home, that was certain.

Unfortunately for me, on my way to meet them at the vet, I started to develop extreme abdominal pain, which ended up putting me in the ER shortly after I picked them up and was heading home, so Theresa had to take Mika home without me. I have still been unable see my Mika since she passed.

Mika was able to spend one comfortable hour in her home, on her bed. Tex got to see her one last time, and Theresa got to hold her as she crossed that threshold to become whole again, on the other side of that rainbow bridge, or she will rest under a weeping willow near the Crystal Pond, and greet each new arriving duck, that will someday join her, until we are all together again, once more.

One of the sweetest routines I will miss watching her do, is every night when Tex was led in to the basement to get a bath, she knew every time he was down there, and she would sit at the top step of the main floor, and when Tex would come up the stairs for the evening, she would bark one time, run at him and then just go about her business. She was just letting him know she was still the boss, even though we knew she had just missed him when he was outside all the day and she was just letting him know she was still there.

Thank you so much for caring enough to read about our angel!

07/23/2026

Some people still can’t understand why we would give up three hours of our time, as in this particular instance, including travel and rescue time, and gas, about $20 this time, to save one domestic Duck that can be purchased at a farm store, for just a couple dollars. Sounds like a poor return on your money, doesn’t it? Well, in the rescue world, you’re definitely not in it to make money, you’re in it for the satisfaction you receive from the contentment that comes when the animal that you just rescued, melts in your arms, after having been tossed in the wild by individuals who have absolutely no business purchasing these angels to begin with.

When people might respond and say, “it’s just a duck”, my first thought is to say, you’re just an idiot! They are living, breathing creatures, that I am quite certain, have the soul of an angel. They feel the pain of starvation no differently than you would, they feel the pain of injury, no differently than you would, the only problem is, they depend on you to look after them and care for them. They are not brought into this world of their own accord, they are brought in for the greed of man to make a dollar. They don’t care what happens to these babies once they are purchased, they close their eyes to the everlasting pain that many of them will live through, in their normally short, and unfulfilled lives. They are pumped out by the tens of thousands for profit only. It is disgusting that we have so little regard for the life of any creature these days.

If you have never rescued an animal in your life, you could never understand the feeling when it’s over. If you have rescued, you completely understand why we do what we do.

I received a call yesterday from Brenna, the naturalist had Crosswinds Marsh, in the new Boston area almost an hour southeast of the Sanctuary. Since I was the only one available, I had to go out and try to catch this sweet pekin solo. Since I am very limited in my endurance as of late, I was hoping for a break of some type to make it easier.

When I arrived, I was taken to the site by two maintenance workers, where he was hanging out with some Canada geese buddies. It was actually sad in one respect, watching the dumped domestic Angel, trying to make friends with anything in the wild that might accept him.

He had no interest whatsoever in food, so that told me right off that this was not going to be easy. After about 15 minutes or so of watching him and trying to figure out his next step, Al, one of the maintenance guys, suggested I stick around for a few minutes because he’s likely to come out of the water soon. Since it was an almost hour trip, I figured I didn’t have much to lose, even though my better judgment was telling me to go back home and come back later with some reinforcements and the kayak. But I decided to wait. In a matter of what seemed like seconds, the candidate geese that he was hanging with just disappeared into the reeds, and in the blink of an eye, so did my target.

This was encouraging, because on the exit side of the reeds, was a lot of open land. I was able to drive my car around the path, but knew I had several hundred feet of walking to do just to see them, and that would not be an easy task.

Once I saw the Angel in the open with his adopted geese family, I was hoping for some backup from the maintenance guys who were busy on another project. As i got closer to them again, the Canada geese got a little leery of my presence, that they all started to takeoff and fly several hundred feet away, and my little sweet boy tried to lift off as well, but to no avail. Now the chase was on, and in a foot race, I would not be able to keep up with him in my current state of affairs.

Fortunately, there were three young ladies on their way to exiting the park, and I pretty much knew this would probably be my only chance to get him. I yelled across the distance and asked them if they could just come in my direction and sort of fan out a bit to help distract the duck, and they were very obliging. They figured some type of rescue might be going on and when I explained the situation afterward, they completely understood, and were taken quite a back, that someone would drop domestics off in a park and let them fend for themselves.

As the ladies came closer, the Angel was now preoccupied just enough that I was able to get close enough to drop the net on him! What could’ve made for a very long day, was shortened considerably by the help of passersby.

I found out from one of the maintenance guys that two white pekin domestic ducks had been spotted about a week ago, hanging out together, and about three days ago, one was nothing more than a pile of feathers, most likely attacked and killed from an aerial predator.

Sadly, his partner wasn’t available to be rescued, but when I held him in my arms for the walk back to my car, he literally melted in my arms with the feeling of relief that his chance of survival just improved one thousand fold.

He was very malnourished, and when he finally had a chance to have some food in a very comforting place, he ate like they always do after being tossed out in the wild, like there is no tomorrow.

So thank you to the three ladies that helped me get him secured, to be able to bring him back to the Sanctuary so quickly. And thank you Brenna for letting us know he was out there. She has notified us several times over the last couple years of similar situations.

If you were moved even slightly by the story, please consider donating just one dollar to one of the following links. One dollar, I promise it won’t change your life, but it will change the lives of the many rescues we make daily, weekly, and yearly! Just a single dollar, four quarters, or even the change that’s in your council, or the back of your sofa, on the countertop when you empty your pockets when you get home. We don’t ask for much, even though we need a lot!. Please remember, it’s not ‘ Just the Duck’!
Thank you very much!

PAYPAL
http://www.michiganduckrescueandsanctuary.com/donate/

https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3300998449725440369&created=1722191585.337092&printed=1

Zelle: 248-446-2021

Cash App: $lyson

07/13/2026

This wasn’t our first water rodeo by any stretch, and it also wasn’t our first at Flower Hospital ProMedica in Sylvania, Ohio either. So you might think it would have been fairly easy to get one dumped domestic Pekin boy. But after our first attempt failed miserably on our first day there, it sure felt like our first rodeo ever!

There are several ponds at this hospital, and we’ve probably been here close to a half a dozen times over the past few years rounding up the dumped Angels. When Mike and I arrived, we finally spotted this very relaxed boy sitting on one of their more accessible shores. We immediately thought if we could get down there quickly enough, we might be able to get there without pulling out the kayak. We probably didn’t get within 100 feet of him when he got very wise and sauntered into the pond, looking to have some fun with us.

So out came the kayak. Michelle, our finder, stood off to the side with one of the security guards, Chloe, and were probably expecting a quick rescue themselves.

For some reason, there was a whole lot of movement of the water, and the aerator pumps I’m sure didn’t help, as well as the wind came over the berm, just enough to make things a little more difficult than usual. After probably a good half hour in the kayak myself, I was completely exhausted, fighting the challenging undercurrent. I then turned the paddle over to Mike, who thought he would be in and out of there in no time. Well, Mike threw in the towel after about only 20 minutes, knowing this was not going to work with one kayak, especially when the playful angel started doing the underwater getaway. To some, it may have been comical watching from a distance, but knowing we would have to make the hour long trip each way back-and-forth the next day, he didn’t leave us laughing.

Fortunately, the next day we had help from Colleen, who helped us on a bigger rescue in Ohio a few months back. She sometimes volunteers with Nature‘s Nursery, a very nice organization not too far from the Toledo area. When Natures Nursery moved into their new facility this past year, they were very generous in donating some of their supplies to our rescue. They had donated several useful items that were very helpful to MDRS.

Colleen came, kayak in tow, and was waiting there with her kayak at the shore when we arrived the next day.

When we finally sort of came up with the game plan, Colleen was already in the water, paddling in the direction of Clyde (the name given by some of the hospital staff), while I was struggling on high ground, trying just to get the kayak to move in the water. Before I could finally get deep enough to turn it, Colleen had run Clyde on shore, and Mike was able to net him quickly.

It seems like Clyde was not in the mood to play today, and was looking for a quick rescue back to the Sanctuary, where he would have friends and food, and his forever home, that eluded him since his unnecessary purchase!

Thanks to everyone who played even the smallest of roles in finding help for this sweet baby! And especially to the Security at the hospital, that allowed us to make the effort to get this angel safely removed and rehomed!

PAYPAL
http://www.michiganduckrescueandsanctuary.com/donate/

https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3300998449725440369&created=1722191585.337092&printed=1

Zelle: 248-446-2021

Cash App: $lyson

07/04/2026

🇺🇸🇺🇸Happy 250th Birthday America! 🇺🇸🇺🇸
We’ve come a long way, and have a long way still to go!

Thank you God, for blessing this great country, and us, for being able to do the things we do!

It was a close call yesterday, but our timing worked well. We received a call late morning about two very tiny yellow balls of fluff, floating in an entry pond to Fairlane Apartments in Dearborn. My first thought was to call Faye, who helps on the Dearborn rescues when she’s available.

She was out there in no time flat, but unfortunately, was unable to get them because they refused to come out from the middle of the pond. She had no other means, no kayak or anything. But while there, she came across a sweet little very juvenile dumped Black Swedish domestic duck that was found in the road, just a few dozen feet from the pond. She immediately grabbed that angel, and brought her immediately out to the Sanctuary.

In the meantime, I was currently unavailable, and Mike and Theresa were doing a partial barn cleaning. We had scheduled to go out there mid afternoon, figuring they were safe in the pond with some other ducks and geese for the short time before we would get there.

When Mike and I eventually arrived, I did not notice anything immediately, and Mike had gone onto the apartment complex property to check the other side of the pond. Without binoculars surprisingly, I noticed two tiny shadows of yellow across the pond, which I assumed had to be them. This was after about 10 minutes of looking and thinking we should’ve gotten out there sooner.

I had my small butterfly net in hand, and started the walk around one side of the pond, and sure enough, as I got closer, they stood up, and I knew it would just be a matter of a few minutes before we would secure them. As I got within about 30 feet of them. They bolted to the pond, with their little legs spinning like a mechanical toy. Mike had finally heard me yelling, grabbed the kayak from the truck, and met me down by the pond. As he entered, he worked them to one side of the pond where they were landscape paver stacked up in such a manner, the little stinkers were able to go into them in an attempt to hide. I got on top of them as Mike got closer, I was able to scoop one up as he stuck his head out, and as Mike pulled the kayak closer to the stack of bricks, he reached in and pulled out prize number two. He dropped it in my net with the other one and off we went, with two, not even a few days old, dumped baby Pekin ducks. Someone must have literally bought them from the store and didn’t keep them for two days, and dumped them in the pond, thinking they would survive and grow up. I know the community well over there from years of experience, and their respect for animals in general, is not a positive one. Not all, but many.

Two hours later, there was a torrential downpour in that same area, and there is no way these little guys would’ve survived that! So again, timing is everything.

PAYPAL
http://www.michiganduckrescueandsanctuary.com/donate/

https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3300998449725440369&created=1722191585.337092&printed=1

Zelle: 248-446-2021

Cash App: $lyson

06/30/2026

How absolutely terrifying must this poor angel have felt, with 55+ mile an hour traffic flying by in both directions, as he sat helpless and confused on a median on Telegraph road, just off of 5 mile. This handsome Blue Swedish domestic Duck
had apparently spent the entire night in that location as passerby were oblivious to his predicament. I have to wonder if he started out being dumped alone, which they typically do not, and if not, where would his buddy be, if even alive.

Within an hour or two of being notified, Mike was able to get out there before me, and after chasing him cautiously around the median while being careful not to run him into the traffic coming in either direction, Mike was finally able to sn**ch him up and bring him home to safety.

Just another day in the life of Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary… and it’s wonderful volunteers!!

Please consider giving up one tiny vice just for today and donating the saved proceeds to help a duck in need, one of the many hundred ducks, cared for daily, at our Sanctuary! Or even better, ask how you can volunteer to be a part of our Team Duck!!

PAYPAL
http://www.michiganduckrescueandsanctuary.com/donate/

https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3300998449725440369&created=1722191585.337092&printed=1

Zelle: 248-446-2021

Cash App: $lyson

06/29/2026

It’s never as easy as One, Two, Three… Sometimes it’s not even as easy as one through eight! Such was the rescue a few days past, by two of our East side girls, Diane and Michelle.

I received a call about a domestic blue Swedish domestic duck dumped in a not too unfamiliar apartment complex near 23 Mile Rd. in Shelby Township. But of course, when they arrived to scoop up the little angel, they saw seven more domestics, trying to survive in the filth ridden waters of the apartment complex. There were two Pekins, a Blue Swedish, a Cayuga, a Khaki Campbell, and three Muscovy ducks. When the girls left, they had the blue Swede and the three Muscovy’s. The very next they Mike went back with Michelle, and they rounded up the Cayuga and one of the Pekins. The second pecan and the khaki eluded them once more. It wasn’t an extreme emergency at this time, because of the layout of the property and the tenants looking to keep an eye on them and feed them in the meantime. But the remaining two played a little bit of cat and mouse, and were able to keep from being immediately rescued. They will be picked up this week.

Diane and Michelle were also not equipped for the entire group, thinking they would only be one duck there. But things still went better than expected!

So thanks to both of our East side gals for a great rescue!

PAYPAL
http://www.michiganduckrescueandsanctuary.com/donate/

https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3300998449725440369&created=1722191585.337092&printed=1

Zelle: 248-446-2021

Cash App: $lyson

06/19/2026

First, I’d like to say we’re sure glad Mike is on our team, I can’t think of a better cleanup hitter to have. He always seems to be there in the clutch!

A few of his recent rescues had him in Manitou Beach, Wayne, and Flint, among a number of places in between.

In Manitou Beach, he rescued a dumped domestic Brown Chinese Goose that was first seen in early May, and for almost the entire month, the poor angel was constantly circling the lake calling out for a friend he probably used to have, but was no longer there. Mike made the trip and eventually chased him down and brought him back to the sanctuary, where he now has many companions.

Another stop was Wayne, where we got a call about a domestic Rouen female duck that had been living under a semi truck for about five days. The finder said she never seemed to leave the protection of the truck and was living on a concrete drive. I don’t know what she could’ve possibly been eating, as it was mostly cement around the entire area. To the trolls out there, this is not a Mallard, it is a domestic duck that is 2 to 3 times the size of a wild Mallard. This is often a reason they go so long in the wild before being rescued, because they are often mistaken for a wild Mallard.

The third rescue in this trilogy was a call from a guy in Flint about three dumped domestic Pekin Ducks that were spotted near the shore of a local river. They would often come up to the park area and hang out during the day. Now they will no longer have to fend for themselves.

Mike wasted very little time getting out to all three rescues and bringing them all safely home to the sanctuary, where they will have a nice safe and secure life with all the proper food and fresh water they could possibly ever need.

Please consider volunteering in some way with our sanctuary. We truly need the help, and the favorable impact it will have on you you, will last you a lifetime!

PAYPAL
http://www.michiganduckrescueandsanctuary.com/donate/

https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3300998449725440369&created=1722191585.337092&printed=1

Zelle: 248-446-2021

Cash App: $lyson

06/14/2026

This rescue that took place late afternoon into early evening yesterday, by total strangers to us at the time, is exactly why Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary exist today.

This Angel would have had nowhere to go. The girls tried many places until they came across us, and their search stopped.

An awesome rescue by team of girls whose day and life experience changed forever, because they took action! They didn’t call for help in the beginning, they WERE the help!

Five wonderful girls, Morgan, MaKenna, Jessica, Karmen, and Kristina, we’re just floating down the Huron River in Flat Rock, something they do occasionally throughout the summer, when something unexpected caught Morgan’s eye. She noticed it looked to possibly be a deceased Goose, but she wanted to get a closer look just to be sure. The domestic Toulouse Goose lay dormant, a few feet from the rivers edge, on dry land.

Upon very close inspection, she noticed it had the slightest breath of life remaining in its dying body. She and the other girls started to get very concerned as to what to do next, so they started making calls as they wrapped the listless body in a beach towel and secured her.

Then they met their biggest obstacle, a young, absolute idiot, about their age, that refused to let them come up from the river’s shore and cross his property, most likely his mommy and daddy’s property, to take the Angel up to the road to get a ride. He yelled down and told them to get off of his property from above, and they weren’t even on his property when they were at the water. They even told this obstinate little heartless punk what they were doing, and that they had this Goose that needed help, and he said he knew, but didn’t care. Thank you Morgan, for giving him a piece of your mind.

The young ladies then loaded everything up into their kayaks and tubes, including themselves and the little Angel struggling to survive, in search for another path to a road, so they could Uber themselves back in either direction, to one of their cars, to continue their quest to save this innocent life.

They made their way a little further down the slow moving current, even with the help of a couple of kayakers who helped pull one of the tubes with the resting angel inside. In the meantime, they were setting up transport, all while maneuvering down the river.

Well, they finally reached shore, connected with transport, and Caleigh brought the traumatized soul all the way to the Sanctuary and delivered her at 8:30 PM, where an oxygen tent and heat lamp were set up and waiting. The warmth from their towel and the comfort from the ride home, seemed to give her a little stronger will to live. Thanks also to Kari of Serenity‘s Place Rehab for helping to coordinate the Transport!

This was one of the most exceptional rescues we’ve had in quite some time, and MDRS was hardly involved. It was exceptional because five determine ladies found an unexpected purpose appear before them out of nowhere, and what they did on their own was truly remarkable.

How this sweet angel of a goose made her way there is unknown, but fortunately for her, timing was everything. Wonder if she had friends that she could have possibly been dumped with. Wonder why she would’ve been dumped at all. A messed up world we live in, when the animals that depend on us for protection and care, after being brought into this world by us, are tossed by us like garbage.

This is what rescuing is all about, not waiting for help, but being the help. No one starts anything from an experienced perspective. Just like we knew nothing when we began, neither did they, but look what they did when it was their time to step up and shine. Future leaders In the making!

Hopefully this will inspire the next group of rescuers!

“It is better to lead from behind, than to follow!”

Your support, in so many ways, keeps us moving forward, and saving all that we can! Thank you!

PAYPAL
http://www.michiganduckrescueandsanctuary.com/donate/

https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3300998449725440369&created=1722191585.337092&printed=1

Zelle: 248-446-2021

Cash App: $lyson

Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary

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