Last weekend, Rescue Ranch attended the 74th Annual McCloud Lumberjack Fiesta Days, which took place from July 23 to 25 in McCloud, California. We love going to this fun family event, it is such a great venue for finding wonderful adopters, making new connections, and spreading the word about the work we do in Yreka.
Perfect weather for a fun, well-attended adoption event
Staff and volunteers drove up from Yreka on Friday afternoon to set up. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, we manned the booth with teams of three or four. Along for the ride, were some of our wonderful Rescue Ranch dogs, including Lava Fire survivors, Feta the black chihuahua and husky pups, Zeke and Zola.
The weather was perfect, and the fiesta was well attended. The crowd strolled among the different vendors, and watched the axe throwing contests and other activities, as they sipped freshly squeezed lemonade or enjoyed other fiesta fare.
We had a steady stream of visitors who were interested in learning more about Rescue Ranch and meeting the dogs. From Dottie, the large Dutch shepherd mix, down to Mischief, the tiny brown chihuahua mix, all of our dogs attracted attention and praise.
Feta loved being out of her crate and cooling her tummy on the fresh green grass. Dottie was eager to meet people and go for walks. Mischief enjoyed being held by visitors. For their part, Zeke and Zola, played non-stop for hours with visiting children. By 1:30 p.m. the puppies were so exhausted, they just had to take a short nap. Un Sunday, Pitbull mix, Olive, caught the attention of visitors with her exuberance and good humor. The children showered her with love and she licked their faces in response.
Young visitors to the Rescue Ranch booth turn out to be fantastic volunteers
Rescue Ranch staff and volunteers were on hand to answer questions, walk the dogs, and chat with prospective adopters. We also received fantastic help from an unexpected quarter. Two very special young people came by our booth to visit the puppies and started to help out. Their affection and respect for animals made them ideal spontaneous volunteers.
Elexis Phillips, 11, and Wyatt Henson, 12, pictured here, helped teach other young visitors about best practices around puppies, such as using hand sanitizer and safe play. In fact, they were so good at it, they ended up manning the puppy pen almost single-handedly until we left at 3 p.m. Thanks so much, Elexis and Wyatt, for your great work!
Success! We have a great time and rescue dogs get adopted
We are always glad to showcase our mission, but it’s even better when we can find matches for our dogs. This year, we are happy to announce that our efforts resulted in three adoptions! Feta and Mischief each found loving new homes, while little Zola made her way into the hearts of Elexis and her family. Now, that’s what we here at Rescue Ranch call a successful event!
In addition to the great volunteers who gave up their weekend to help out, we want to thank Lumberjack Fiesta Days’ own Patricia Ballard-Faulkner. She was good enough to follow up with us and ensure that we made it to the event. We might have missed this opportunity because the Lava Fire crisis really kept us busy for a while. But Patricia was kind enough to hold our spot until we could reply. Thanks, Patricia we really appreciate it.
Don’t forget that you can always come meet our amazing dogs at the Rescue Ranch facility in Yreka. We’re open to the public from 12-4 p.m., seven days a week. We’d love to see you there.
