All the animals from the Christmas manger scene and then some live at Lakeview Animal Sanctuary in Lockport, and the organization is looking for angels to volunteer to care for them.
In barns and pens branching off from a riding arena, a pair of turkeys and rabbits in hutches were snugged into deep straw on Christmas Eve. Goats shoved their heads through fences and lambs bounced around each other.
Volunteer coordinator Dawn Canazzi said, “We used to take the donkeys to a church for Christmas.”
“We don’t have enough drivers now,” added Shannon Pearson, sanctuary manager.
The livestock sanctuary is at capacity with animals that have been surrendered by owners who could no longer care for them. From the knee-high Rhode Island red rooster with a baseball-sized comb, to the Kunekune and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, animals arrived at the sanctuary when they no longer fit into their original homes.
Goats were given up by elderly farmers. A divorcing couple couldn’t agree on who could have their horse, Pearson said, so neither of them could keep it.
Nearly two dozen colorful chickens and ducks were purchased as adorable chicks at feed stores and given up as loud, burly adults. The sheep named Meadow, who was loose in Niagara Falls last year, now lives in a flock.
Pearson drove to a meat auction in Allegany County to purchase Baby Cakes, the mule, at $1 a pound.
“He was absolutely petrified of human beings when we got him,” she said. “We get phone calls saying, ‘Can you take our animal? The community needed us and we were here, and now we need the community.”
The animals need cleaning and feeding every day, Canazzi said. The sanctuary has a team of nearly 15 volunteers, but on a recent day, no one was signed up to help. Water buckets and troughs need filling, she said, there’s manure to remove, hay to stack, and a plan is underway to build runs for each of the rabbit hutches.
“Nobody wants to live dirty and wet except the ducks,” Pearson said.
“There’s such a reward in this,” Canazzi said. “There’s a lot of love here without the animals saying a word. These animals ask nothing of you. Working my regular job during the week, the people are so demanding. I can’t even put into words how the animals make me feel. Nothing else matters when I’m here.”
After passing through the alpaca and llama enclosure, visitors come to the riding arena that is home to Freddie the donkey and his many mares. The curious eyes and noses that approach represent the gamut of great horse breeds: Morgan, Standardbred, Oldenburger, Paso Fino, and paint. The horses range in age from 17 to 26 years old, Pearson said, with a few having worked under harness.
“Nobody works except us,” she said.
The women showed the boxes of fruit and vegetables they receive from grocery stores and farm markets for the animals: plastic boxes of out-of-date spinach, apples, oranges, mini pumpkins, bell peppers and cucumbers.
“People can help by making salads for the animals,” Canazzi said. “You don’t need previous experience. We train everybody.”
“It’s work first, play later,” Pearson said. “Grooming is not at the top of the list.”
Volunteering hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, Canazzi said, but assistance for part of that time is also welcome. Pearson does the evening checks herself and tops off food.
Bill Clark said he had no experience with livestock when he began volunteering in April.
“I enjoy everything about this place,” Clark said while petting Magic, the paint horse. “It’s like a connection from day one.”
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact the sanctuary at 716-990-7030.