Ochoa's Animal Hour

Mork and Mindy.  Mork has been living
with leukemia for the last 2 years.  Best Friends
is essentially his hospice home.

      My first day at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary was awesome! I did not know what to expect...I thought there was just going to be sheds and animals in them. I soon learned there was so much more to the animals we saw, along with housing and nourishment. We began the tour of where we would be helping, in which we saw raptors and tropical birds. These raptors and birds were either injured or were around human interaction too much and would not be able to live a regular life in the wild. It was sad to see all the birds because they were so beautiful and people that gave them to the shelter did not want them anymore or could not keep them anymore. We were also told there was a certain way to groom a bird but many people who just buy a bird do not realize that. This is important to know because in the wild, grooming the back or under the wings means that the bird is ready to mate. So this causes problems for the birds because they are confused and they begin acting out towards their owner by being really loud and biting.

Andreina utilizes her bird-whisperer
skills with Seppi

We were then dismissed to lunch and we headed toward a really amazing resting area. It looked like a naturally formed theater with some improvement of tables, bathrooms, a stage, and perfect grass.

15 bags...all filled with cocoa puffs--I mean, rabbit poop.

After lunch we began to do the dirty work, which is essentially why we are here to help--not just observe. This part of the day made my day basically. We were instructed on how to hold rabbits, clean, and open the rabbits cages. It seems like a boring task but when everyone is as excited as yourself to help it becomes a fun activity. We observed that rabbit droppings looked like cocoa puffs which was kind of funny how we thought about food as we cleaned poop. Everyone got to check out how the injured or sick rabbits were being cared for. We learned that most of the rabbits came from a hoarding situation that happened in 2006 and that was cool for me to know. That meant these animals actually needed help and were living in a bad environment and by me helping I am in a way making sure a good environment is being maintained for the rabbits. The dirty work was done and we had a refreshment of ice pops but one more task needed to be met, giving the rabbits some treats. I thought it was fun but weird because i had no clue rabbits loved cilantro. All and all it was a great day of hard work and education with the animals we are helping out.
                
 - Jesus Ochoa