On the Twenty-seventh Day of Christmas,
look what came to Rikki’s,

twenty seven versatile volunteers,

there are so many tasks at and for Rikki’s Refuge that YOU can participate no matter where you are, or what your abilities are! You can help from the comfort of your own home on social media, graphic work, writing, doing food drives, fundraisers, it’s endless !!
You can get down and dirty and scrub litterboxes.

But you don’t have to!! There’s so much to do on site and off.
Use your artistic skills, building skills, repair skills, landscaping skills.

You can help us at craft fairs, events, and festivals. Set up the booth, talk to customers, hand out literature, so sales, break down the booth.

And there is always Re-Tail, our thrift shop in Fredericksburg. 3503 Lafayette Blvd. We always need volunteers to make the shelves look pretty, accept donations at the back door, sort and price items, stock shelves, and cashier.

And there’s lots more you could do too. What’s YOUR special talent? Contact us at Volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org

Can’t volunteer today?
Help us keep every thing going …
make a tax deductible contribution!
Both keep the dream of Rikki’s Refuge alive !!

Go to our website https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!

#RikkisRefuge
#RikkisRefugeAnimalSanctuary

On the Twenty-sixth Day of Christmas,
Did you really think Christmas at Rikki’s Refuge was going to end on the 25th ? Everything at Rikki’s Refuge is bigger than life!! So much bigger. 1,287 animals to feed. Ever thought of the pile of poop that makes every day? Yeah!!! HUGE ……. And everything else is HUGE. Especially the feed bill !!! So let’s keep going !!

On the Twenty-sixth Day of Christmas,
look what came to Rikki’s,

twenty six dogs a drooling,

On day 20, we talked about why dogs end up at Rikki’s Refuge. Elderly, medical needs, slowing down, don’t like the new puppy, diabetics, heart disease, can’t wait all day locked up in a house without pooping or peeing, oh the reasons, so just ship them off to the old dogs’ home never to be seen again. I wonder if people ever think of the lesson they’re teaching their kids, or the fact that they might have the privilege of living to be elderly and not being so convenient any more?

And the poor scared dogs. Sometimes we know the horrible circumstances that made them that way. Often we don’t.

The terrors of abandonment and the separation anxiety that goes with it. Maybe if they just had a friend in the house with them all day, or a yard they could go out in to play and enjoy the sun, maybe then they wouldn’t nervously chew up everything in sight wondering if they’d been abandoned and left to starve and die.

Imagine, day after day, going thru that kind of fear and anxiety. No wonder some are so neurotic when they come to the safety of Rikki’s Refuge where they will never be left alone again. Where they will always have friends. Always have the love and security they were so desperately begging for.

Your support gives many dogs that second chance at life. The chance to be who they are. The chance to be loved. Thank YOU for making it all possible.

Please make your tax deductible contribution by going to our website
https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!

#RikkisRefuge
#RikkisRefugeAnimalSanctuary

On the Twenty-fifth Day of Christmas,
look what came to Rikki’s,

twenty five delightful donors,

All donors are delightful!!! Be it $1, a can of food, a carrot. We need you all. With 1,287 animals to feed each and every day, it truly takes a village to make Rikki’s Refuge possible.

Please consider a generous Christmas or End of Year donation for the animals. Rikki’s Refuge is only possible because of YOU. Thank you for sharing with the animals today!

Please make your tax deductible contribution by going to our website
https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!

#RikkisRefuge
#RikkisRefugeAnimalSanctuary

Merry Christmas from the Doug, Lauren, Clarence, Tina, Joey and Jason and their friends !!! Please remember them as you’re sitting around your Christmas tree with family and friends, inside where it’s warm and dry. They are out there today making sure every one of Rikki’s 1287 animals are well fed and happy. Doug will be at the Life Center, 21410 Constitution Hwy, Rapidan today between noon and 2 pm with the gates open to meet you as you bring Christmas Donations for the animals and visit. Bring produce (fruits and veggies) or commercial treats for the specific species please, everyone is on a specific diet, so no cookies, candy, crackers, bread, etc. These six people put the animals of Rikki’s Refuge above everything else and are there before the sun comes up, still there when the sun goes down, and never miss a day of caring for the animals they so love. Won’t you help out today with donation? $1 will buy Christmas breakfast and dinner for an animal !!! Help us feed everyone today !!! Hope to see you between noon and 2 pm. www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate

On the Twenty-fourth Day of Christmas,
look what came to Rikki’s,

twenty four plump pigs a plundering,

… and how is it that piggies need to come to Rikki’s Refuge?
The exotic pet market.

A cute little days old baby piggy is adorable …

and when people get told they’ll only grow to 10 or 20 or 40 pounds … and they make ideal house pets …. people fork over quite a bit of money for them. I see them being sold in parking lots around here all the time.

And then … they grow. No piggy stays 10, or 20, or even 40 pounds.
The pot belly pigs grow to 200-400 pounds,

and the farm pigs to 800, 900 even 1,200 pounds.

And pigs love to root everything up.

It’s what pigs do.

Pigs love to wallow about in mud.

It’s what pigs do.

If you expect pigs to live in your house, they will still be pigs. They will root up the carpet. And the drywall. And they’ll pee on it all in the hopes of making something that resembles mud.

If you keep them out back, they will root up your yard. In record time.

Don’t buy exotic pets, any pets for that matter, until you learn about them. And do that learning from someplace other then the one trying to extract $s from you in exchange for the poor little baby animals.

As you can likely imagine, soon these piggies who were once such adored cute little babies, are no longer welcome in the home. The lucky ones come to Rikki’s Refuge where they can spend the rest of their lives living in peace and happiness and mud and where they’re allowed to root the yard all up !!

Your donations to Rikki’s Refuge are gifts of life to the animals. Won’t you please help us save lives this Christmas Eve?

Please make your tax deductible contribution by going to our website
https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!

#RikkisRefuge
#RikkisRefugeAnimalSanctuary

On the Twenty-third Day of Christmas, look what came to Rikki’s,

twenty three goats a butting,

Yes, and many of the goats we have came because they were evicted from their homes for butting. They can’t help it, they’re goats !!

The black and white goat in the picture above never butted, well not that often anyway, maybe only if you had something she wanted to eat, or she thought you did!! That’s Nanny Goat. She came to Rikki’s cus she was a house goat, but as she grew up it just got so messy !!! Seriously. And, NO, you can’t litterbox train a goat, nor can you house break them. When it’s time to go, the tail goes up, and they go. No matter where they are!

Like the sheep, some of the goats came from pet-a-zoos getting rid of the cute babies. But most come one or two at a time from people who didn’t know much about goats when they thought they’d make great lawnmowers. Goats don’t much like grass. They prefer flowers, your favorite shrubs, any tree you plant, hoses, car trim, window sills, your boots if forget you have a goat and leave them on the front porch, and anything else they can chew on. And NO, they do not eat tin cans !!!

You’ve probably heard the term smelly old goat. But you have no idea what it means till you smell an older male who hasn’t been neutered. You can smell them from awfully far away. And once you smell that smell, you’ll never forget it. But it’s easy to solve, just neuter them !

Goats are also evicted when they dance on top of vehicles. For some reason many hoomans find this very offensive. But didn’t they know goats love to climb and will climb on anything they can find?

Why that’s even in the waiver that you’ll sign if you want to visit Rikki’s Refuge, not only might you get bit, kicked, clawed, butted, climbed on, but your vehicle will most likely get climbed on and if it’s shiny and the goats see their reflection, they’ll butt and butt and butt.

By supporting Rikki’s Refuge, you assure that the goats and others will always have a loving home at Rikki’s Refuge.

Please make your tax deductible contribution by going to our website
https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!

#RikkisRefuge
#RikkisRefugeAnimalSanctuary

On the Twenty-second Day of Christmas, look what came to Rikki’s,

twenty two sheep in need of sheering,

Oh I could tell you stories about our first three sheep, and learning to shear, with big clippers that looked kind of like scissors, and how the sheep got away, and how we’d chase them, and how they could out run us, and how it took three days to finish clipping ONE sheep, and how ragged that poor sheep looked. Bad hair day for sure !!!

Now with 43 sheep, we have a professional do the job, and they can shear one sheep, no fuss, no trauma, in THREE minutes flat !!!

So why do we have sheep at Rikki’s Refuge? College projects to raise a sheep, learn to neuter, learn basic care, and at the end of the school year to sell to raise money for the next class to buy some baby sheep. Sell? That most likely means for butchering. Often these college kids have come to love their sheep, and they want them to live, not die. The lucky ones come to Rikki’s Refuge.

And then there are pet-a-zoos who like baby sheep, cute little lambs, the one with all four legs, before they’re old enough to give up a leg so someone can eat leg of lamb. Yeah, think about it, pretty gross what people eat, and what they do to animals to eat it. Anyway bottle babies bring in big bucks at pet-a-zoos. They’re only good for a season, then they’re not cute enough, they’re sold off, yeah you know where to, and new ones are born for the next season. But a few lucky ones come to Rikki’s Refuge.

We’ve had two herds come from people who had them their whole lives for wool. In the production market, most are only considered good for a few years when the wool is softer. And like when your hair turns gray it gets courser, sheep wool gets courser over the years and less desirable. Those sheep are killed and sold as mutton. But the very few crafters who keep a small herd that they sheer and spin the wool and sell crafted goods, they tend to fall in love with their sheep, and keep them forever. But human lives come to ends too, and some end up having to move into situations where they can’t take their sheep. Most assisted living places won’t allow even one pet, let alone a herd of sheep. And so those come to Rikki’s Refuge for the rest of their years.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to incorporate assisted living housing into Rikki’s Refuge? I know that would be my dream if I needed a place to live when I get old. Well older. Some people already think I’m old. But I don’t !! I hope to always live among the animals and the trees.

Your tax deductible contributions make the dreams of Rikki’s Refuge carry on and grow bigger every year !!
You can help by going to our website
https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!

#RikkisRefuge
#RikkisRefugeAnimalSanctuary

On the Twenty-first Day of Christmas, look what came to Rikki’s,

twenty one chickens a cackling,

actually … there’s a lot more than that talking away at Rikki’s Refuge. Chickens here and chickens there !!

Most are older hens who were dumped cus they were considered useless after 3 or 4 years of being forced into hard producing and egg laying. They’re tired, they’re worn out, their calcium is depleted, they get skinny, they’ve put their all into the eggs they constantly lay, and they’re dying. They need extra nutrition, they need love, they need to be outside, they need fresh air, they need sunlight, they need a home where they can just be chickens. And at Rikki’s Refuge they can do just that !!!

Chickens are the friendliest sweetest critters. They make friends with everybody !!

Help a chicken TODAY !!
https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!

#RikkisRefuge
#RikkisRefugeAnimalSanctuary

On the Twentieth Day of Christmas, look what came to Rikki’s,

twenty puppies a pooping,

Yup, one of the most common reasons dogs are given up is, I’m not home all day and the dog is pooping in the house. She didn’t do that for years, but has started lately. Oh, I see she’s getting older and you’re gone 12 hours a day, and you expect her to just not pee or poop? I see! During that same 12 hours, do YOU every have to use the bathroom? Have you tried holding it that long? What would you do if you HAD to go? I mean … you HAVE to go, right? And so does your dog!

Get a dog walker, run home in the middle of the day, install a doggy door. But don’t dump your best friend!

Sadly so many dogs end up dumped when they are elderly. Not just over bathroom issues. But they’re bothered by the new young puppy … so they get rid of the older dog. Oh look, I had a baby, let me dump grandma.

Others have developed health issues and need insulin or heart medication or arthritis medication or more frequent vet visits. Just dump them, and teach your children what to do when you get old and need help …..

Others end up at Rikki’s Refuge because they’ve had a hard and scary life and they are frightened, too frightened to be touched. Some will become friendly over time, and often be adopted by volunteers who helped them to overcome their fears. Some will always prefer the company of dogs and not humans. And that’s ok!! We don’t demand they love us to live here!

Some never lived in a house and never learned that thing called house trained. Others hated the confines of a house and broke windows, chewed thru drywall, clawed down doors.

But at Rikki’s Refuge, every one of them ends up with friends and love for the rest of their lives !!!

YOU can support a dog for only $30 a month !! What a wonderful gift to give your dog loving friend who already has everything !!

You can sigh up for that right here — and let us know, tell us who your friend is and we’ll send them a card letting them know of your gift.

Please make your tax deductible contribution by going to our website
https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!

#RikkisRefuge
#RikkisRefugeAnimalSanctuary