Peace River Refuge & Ranch is SPCA International's Shelter of the Week! We have recently been recognized by SPCA International with the title of "Shelter of the Week" for the week of November 19, 2007!  Not only do we have a beautiful plaque to hang up at the sanctuary, they made a generous contribution to our facility, they have a professional PR firm assisting us in spreading the news and they are collecting contributions on our behalf from their supporters!  What a fantastic surprise, just in time for the holidays! You can see our special page on their website at www.spca.com/peaceriverrefuge.

Gopher tortoise released into the WILD!

Crush will wear a radio transmitter (harmlessly attached with epoxy to his shell) for up to three years.  This way the biologists can track his progress and ensure that he reverts to proper wild gopher tortoise behavior.

We were featured in the Dutch magazine "Wildlife Magazine" in Holland, thanks to our volunteer Erik J. that spent some time with us last summer.

Read more here.

Many pet shops sell exotic pets these days, but more often than not, the people that buy these pets often times very inexpensively do not get the full picture on what it takes to successfully care for the new addition to the family. Sulcata Tortoises are only one example of an exotic pet that is sold in pet shops to unsuspecting buyers that have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

Read more here.

Animals And Disasters Are You Ready?

As many of you who are familiar with us know, we have had the privilege of hosting the annual training for the Department of Homeland Security VMAT-1 team in the past few years. (See a video of the 2004 VMAT-1 training event by clicking here).

Read more here.

CBSG Membership

We are proud to have been invited to become a member of CBSG, the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group. CBSG is part of IUCN - The World Conservation Union. Headquartered in Switzerland, The World Conservation Union serves as the United Nations of conservation. With 975 volunteer members, CBSG is one of the largest of over 110 Specialist Groups comprising the Species Survival Commission (SSC), one of six IUCN Commissions.

Read more on this here.

We welcomed a fantastic group of students from Grand Valley State University to our sanctuary. These students decided to volunteer for us as part of their "Alternative Spring Break" program at the University.

To see a video of their experience and read their personal experience click here.

In celebration of the Easter Holiday we organized an Easter Egg Hunt for our primates. We filled small artificial eggs with some of their favorite treats.

To get the treats, the animals had to retrieve the egg and figure out how to open it as part of their ongoing enrichment activities at our facilities

To see a small slide show of the event click here.

Cotton-Top Tamarin Habitat Finished!

Our Cotton-Top Tamarin habitat is finished! Thanks to the help of all the volunteers at the sanctuary that helped over the last several months, we released our Tamarins into their new home today.

They have plenty of room to hang from vines, forage through brush and behave like real monkeys.

Watch our new slideshow here.

For more information about Cotton-Top Tamarins click here.

Great Horned Owl Babies Rescued

Two great horned owl babies were picked up by our facility last week when a local resident reported that they were knocked out of their nest. One had an eye injury and the other a wing injury, so they could not be put back in the nest without first receiving medical attention.

For more information and pictures click here.

There are certain seasons every year marked by a high number of people buying animals for their children.

This time of year it's Easter and many are set out to get a cute bunny for the kids to play with.

Read more here.

Christmas For The Animals 2005

This year's Christmas for the Animals was again a huge success! Although the threat of rain stopped some people to come out, we still had a crowd to watch the animals receive their "Christmas presents".

Click here to see a slide show of the event.

If you were unable to make it but still would like to contribute, you can make a donation by clicking here.

The Cruelty  of De-clawing: The Paw Project

Declawing is a surgical procedure, also called Onychectomy, in which the animal's toes are amputated at the last joint. Most people do not realize that a portion of the bone—not only nail—is removed. Read more here.

Our sanctuary does not promote owning an exotic pet of any kind. As with any exotic pet, their human "owners" are quite often not prepared for the many challenges that present themselves with having such an animal.

So before you decide to get a pet monkey, please read the following information here.

An important piece of legislation called H.R. 3858 could prevent people and their pets and service animals from becoming separated during major disasters.

Although seven weeks have passed since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast, images of stranded animals and rescue personnel forcing people to leave their pets behind are still fresh in our minds.

This important piece of legislation could prevent future animal suffering and human anguish the next time disaster strikes – and the animals need your help to pass it!

H.R. 3858, the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS), would require disaster relief agencies that receive federal funding to include household pets and service animals in their evacuation plans.

Please act RIGHT AWAY to support H.R. 3858:

Ask your representative to co-sponsor or support H.R. 3858. You can reach your representative by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. You can use the following script:

"Hello, my name is [your name] and I'm calling from [your city and state]. I'm calling to urge [your representative's name] to co-sponsor H.R. 3858, the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act.

By supporting this legislation, Representative [name] can prevent future disaster victims from having to choose between their personal safety and the welfare of their animals.

Thank you."

If you prefer, send an e-mail or letter to your representative. Find contact information at www.house.gov.

Forward this message to all of your friends who care about animals so they can contact their representatives, too.

Courtesy of UAN.org

VMAT-1Training

Watch how Peace River Refuge & Ranch hosted the annual VMAT-1 training in 2004! VMAT stands for Veterinary Medical Assistance Team.

To watch the video click here.

To read an article about the 2003 training click here.

Christmas For The Animals Photos 2004

Our annual "Christmas for the Animals" event was a great success as usual. All the animals got their presents while the public watched as animals played and enjoyed their treats. 

We have posted the first pictures of our event. Please click here to see how our animals enjoyed Christmas this year.