April news from the sanctuary

 Dear Friends of the Animals,

We hope you are all enjoying the beginnings of warmer weather. We know the animals are. We have been busy at the Sanctuary, cleaning up after a long winter, caring for our friends, completing some amazing adoptions, and sadly, saying goodbye to some of our residents. This is the sad part of what we do, and while we are glad we are able to provide love and care during their lifetime, it's always hard to say goodbye. 

We also have some news about some events happening on site! We are excited to start welcoming visitors back (masked, socially distanced, and in small groups, of course). 

Read on to get up to date with us!

---

A Day in the Sanctuary Life
While it can be warm and fuzzy, it's also hard work, often full of surprises...

• 6am: rise and prepare for the day.
• 7am: morning feedings, medicines, and wellness checks begin.
• 8am: vet visit #1--two of our sanctuary dogs had check ups. One has an ongoing eye issue we are treating, and the other has a possible torn ligament.
• 9am: ongoing cleaning, manure moving, feeding. Volunteers clean stalls, move poop to the field, clean and care for animals. 
• 10am: gate and fence repair project. Volunteers relocate some gates, and repair some fence posts.  
• 11am: vet visit #2--we have to say goodbye to one of our beloved elder goats and then bury her. 
• 12pm: answer calls and respond to social media inquiries
• 1pm: cleaning out muck from the duck pond and draining it, refilling. Stinky and messy, but satisfying and the ducks and geese get busy messing it up again right away. :-)
• 3pm: 90 minutes trying to get a very rambunctious horse back from his day in the field. He is young and full of energy, and as we get him back into his pen, he bends a water stand-up which now requires a new stand-up.
• 4pm: evening feedings, medicines, and wellness checks begin. ​​
• 5pm: repair water stand-up in young energetic horse pen. 
• 7pm: fundraising planning, paperwork, phone calls, emails.

Sanctuary days are long days, filled with hard work, and the reward of being close to the animals that need us so much, and in the companionship of compassionate people. We are fortunate to have an amazing and dedicated team of volunteers. For the first three months of the year, we have tallied almost 800 hours of volunteer help.

If you'd like to support us, we have lots of ways you can help, from becoming a monthly sponsor, to one-time donations, or even purchasing items from our Amazon Wish List. 

Support the Sanctuary

---

Our Mission Statement

River's Wish Animal Sanctuary saves lives through rescue, education and advocacy. By treating animals as individuals and expressing both their wonder and plight through art, we foster empathy and understanding that leads to compassionate life choices.

---

​Spring and Summer bring in-person events back to River's Wish

​As the weather improves, and COVID-19 phases for Washington State open up opportunity for more in-person activities, we're busy planning for ways to create small events focused around our mission statement. You can keep up to date with our public visitation events on our Facebook events calendar. 

Just a few events in the works:

• Art and Animals Workshops with Spokane Art School
• Spokane Public Schools Express Programs visits
• Donor Celebration Event
• Public small group tours 

 
Art for the Animals Auction
Because we still won't be able to have large group events, our 11th Annual Art for the Animals Auction will be online again this year. Stay tuned for more information, including how to donate and register for our most popular event. 

Current Events

---

​Farewell to our faithful and entertaining friend Ennis

​Ennis entered our lives in February of 2010 and left his tired old body on March 20.
Our friend Lori from Cle Elum told us about a 3 year old pig whose people were going to shoot him, because he was knocking things in their shop. Without hesitation we said yes, and he was transported to us on a cold February day. We felt certain that Delilah would welcome this poor boy, but we didn't realize how territorial pigs were.

As he lay next to the house shaking, I thought of the millions of pigs on factory farms whose lives must cause them to tremble often. We set up a cozy pen for Ennis in our warm shop. Ennis spent his first winter here, in a warm shop, where he was welcomed, loved, and cared for. 

Over the next eleven years Ennis was a presence of love, fun, laughter and pure appreciation for who he was. He loved having his belly rubbed and receiving spa treatments. He cruised throughout the yards and chose his own spot to sleep each night. He is remembered for blocking a doorway now and then, locking volunteers in the Bunny Barn while they cleaned, or for interrupting the blessing during our Thanksgiving of Compassion events. Ennis wasn't about to wait on that to get his treats. He was always an independent sort.

For the last few years Ennis has had the warmth of the bunny house in the winter and the companionship of Dwin the pig. Even though she could be really rude about taking his food, they had a bond. They seemed to work it out and were often snuggling.

In January 2020 we thought we were going to have to say goodbye to Ennis. He was nearly immobile. We received wonderful life saving advice from Richard at the Pig Preserve (thank you Richard!) and we worked with our veterinarian Dr. O'Bannan. This gave Ennis another 14 months.

When Ennis began a recent decline, we knew he would not recover this time. Without question, it was time. While he was still eating, we increased his pain medication and surrounded him with extra soft hay. Dwin, in her usual fashion, still tried to steal his food.

Dr. O'Bannan came to the sanctuary and helped us say goodbye to this precious boy who we are so grateful to have had come into our lives. The euthanasia was very gentle and his passing was peaceful. Thank you so much Dr. O'Bannan, for your extremely kind and gentle ways. 

Ennis will always be a part of our lives out here. He taught us so much. Sadly, pigs are given up, abandoned, and killed when they are no longer cute little piglets, when they have grown too large, when demonstrate their curiosity by investigating where they shouldn't, and when they are simply no longer wanted. They are very smart and sensitive. They, like any animal, require commitment. There are no magic homes lining up to adopt the thousands of pigs, whose novelty has worn off, whose size has become a factor, whose very presence is no longer appreciated. 

Ennis was that pig who showed us this truth, but he also showed us his truth and it truly was beautiful. He will be dearly missed.

If you'd like to donate to our other pigs, we welcome your support, in honor of Ennis.

Donate