Pixie is a survivor of the notorious Olympic Animal Sanctuary of Forks Washington. In her short life she has been a stray, a pound puppy, and an inmate of a failed rescue that was managed like a hoarding situation. She spent several years confined to near total darkness and another year confined to a travel crate. She has not had the chance to be socialized with other animals and has learned to be fearful of people. It's not surprising that Pixie isn't ready to go to a home an be a pet.
Here's a video of Pixie:
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However, a permanent home has been found for Pixie: a sanctuary, a real one. More below the fold.
Pixie was sent to the Olympic Animal Sanctuary to save her life; she was living in a kill shelter and her time was up. Some of the volunteers cared about her and made arrangements for her to travel to the Olympic Peninsula to the Olympic Animal Sanctuary, because they believed what the director, Steve Markwell, said about his organization. They believed that Markwell would provide Pixie with the life he claimed to provide for all of his dogs: exercise, good food, vet care , roomy kennels rehabilitation for behavior issues.
The reality was a funky warehouse crammed full of dogs stacked in crates. The dogs were fed raw turkey necks every three days. Water was changed rarely. Exercise was sporadic at best. Dogs were put out in incompatible groupings and there were fights. Doc, Malakai, Lexy, and others died in fights. Phoenix died, probably of starvation. Barry died of thirst. Rocket died on an unknown and untreated condition. Other dogs died of bloat or by chocking on bone. IN April of 2013, Markwell had over one hundred and fifty dogs confined to the darkness and filth of he "sanctuary". Only one hundred and twenty-four survived to be rescued in December of 2013.
Since then a nationwide effort has been underway to place the surviving dogs in responsible situations. Over one hundred have been placed. Pixie is not one of them.
She needs to go to someone who has experience with abused and unsocialized dogs. Such a place has been found: a sanctuary in Missouri. Some of the volunteers who sent Pixie to OAS, thinking they were helping her, have been working for months to find a new home for her. They have visited the sanctuary and discussed Pixie with the manager.
It's a farm setting: rural, a barn, a few horses, some other farm animals, and a few dogs. The manger lives on site. The dogs sleep in the house at night and have the run of the farm during the day. There's a stream along one side of the property. It's a stable, well-run, relatively small sanctuary.
They can't just take Pixie and drop her into the farm and dog pack willy-nilly, though. Pixie needs somewhere to live while adjusting and receiving training and rehabilitation. So that's the purpose of this diary: to request help with fundraising. A fenced area needs to be set aside for Pixie and a dwelling built for her. I say dwelling because the plan is not a dog house; more a dog mansion with heating for the winter and shade for the summer. Pixie will be living better than ever before in her life.
The plan is to introduce her to dogs over time, with the goal that eventually she wile be able to sleep in the house with the rest of the pack, but that will take time.
PIXIE'S FUNDRAISER HAS BEEN SUCESSFUL! Pixie will be going to a farm animal sanctuary in Missouri. She will have her own fence yard in a shady area that overlooks the rest of the farm. She will have a dwelling that is heated in the winter and cool in the summer. I wish I could figure out how to attach a picture of the site because it looks like Paradise: cool, green, shady. lots of long grass, birds, squirrels...Pixie will have lots to entertain herself with between visits from the volunteers. And she won't be out there forever. She will, over time, be integrated into the house with the other dogs.
Twenty-one dogs remain at the rescue site awaiting placement.
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Please checkout that link. The remaining dogs still need our help.