Bob and Al

2002 -Bob was rescued from a padlocked 8′ x 10′ cage where he had lived for fourteen years. When we first met Bob, his body was plastered with dried feces, he had open sores on his belly, edema in his legs, and a respiratory infection. He could hardly stand and was literally at death’s door.

This emu was living in a horrific environment. A local independent zoo veterinarian who examined him held out little hope for his survival. In his opinion he thought he would never regain the use of his legs and advised us to put him down. This was not an option for us; Bob deserved our best effort to try and get him walking again. Against all odds, he made it! Six months of daily rehabilitation he was now thriving.  Bob was going to feel grass under his feet! Fully recovered he is now living on acres of open ground like any emu should be. Bob is very old now but every day he is with us we feel so lucky to have been able to give him the opporunity to live like an Emu and the freedom of a wire cage.

July 2014 – Bob is slowing down a bit, but he is still loving life and doing his crazy “Emu run” every day!

November 2018 – Bob is going strong! He  scares us every now and then, but I think he is just messing with us to get more attention! He’s still loving life and really loves his daily back massage:)  After his dinner, he gets extra treats of romaine, grapes and apples.

Charlie

Charlie is the perfect example of why Sara’s Sanctuary was created and what we strive to achieve with all the animals that find their way to our door.  With patience, persistence and a lot of love, every one of them has  a very happy story!

Charlie came to us from a very caring person in California. He had been trying to raise this crow in his kitchen for over a year. Although, he obviously loved this crow, he knew Charlie needed more specialized care than he would be able to provide. So he brought him to here to our Sanctuary.  Charlie had no tail or wing feathers. We called him “Bumble Bee” because he and would fly straight up and drop back down, he couldn’t balance or even sit upright on a perch.  We needed to build a cage that would help to keep him from continually falling on his back. We added different sized ladders and ramps so he could  learn to balance himself.  After a few months he  eventually was able to walk down onto the grass where he finally conquered his fear of open spaces. 

Charlie also had developed what’s known as “scissor beak”. This required his food to be cut into very small pieces and hand fed to him three times a day. We massaged his beak twice a day to train his beak to move back into a normal position. We were sure that Charlie would remain in captivity for the rest of his life, but after two years, his feathers were fully restored and he was able to eat completely on his own.  He was moved to a flight pen to allow him to gain his wing strength to learn to fly again.  Another crow that had been  rescued and released on our property began coming to  Charlie’s enclosure.  We cut a hole to see if Charlie showed any interest in flying free. One incredible day, after several months, Charlie chose to pair with the other crow and flew out of the enclosure to be free on the property.  That was seven years ago and they are both still together.  Every day they come to remind me to put out the fresh food they have grown to expect. They are wonderfully protective of the Sanctuary grounds, and every year bring their children to say hello to us.

After seeing the unbelievable and horrendous things humans either do or allow to happen to animals, this is the perfect story. This is exactly why we work so hard to provide everything possible to ensure a happy ending for all our animals and birds who have and will call Sara’s Sanctuary their safe haven.