Pepper's Story

Gene & Pepper (photo by Skip Higgins)


by Reba Wagner; DH Animal Care Coordinator


A caring couple found a dog trapped in a cactus patch in the Elephant Butte area on Saturday/Sunday, April 4/5 and brought her to Desert Haven. After rescuing her, they discovered that the poor dog was blind, deaf, and had a large tumor-like growth on her side and there was another smaller one on her stomach. Her long hair was matted and full of burrs and thorns. She had cactus thorns all around her bleeding mouth and she had very few teeth. She may have been so hungry that she tried to eat the cactus. After cutting her hair and removing the thorns, it was apparent to them that she was a Poodle mix, dark gray in color. We named her Pepper.

Pepper didn't bark, but made a very mournful cry that just would tear your heart out and brings tears to your eyes. I believe she cried for help until she lost her voice. We have no idea whether the dog wandered off from someone's home or whether someone just disposed of her by dumping her in the desert.

On May 31, 2009, Pepper crossed the Rainbow Bridge. She was such a sweet, gentle dog and fought so hard to survive, but her body could not handle the fight. Pepper's last days were filled with love and human touch.


After being found in Elephant Butte in April, Pepper never fully regained her health. Vet care, food, love and attention could not overcome the horrific damage done to her system. She is missed already, but she is not suffering.

Abandonment was a grave offense to this very loving and beautiful dog. She did not deserve this disrespect and treatment by human hands. Situations like this can be avoided if pet owners will exhibit some decent, moral responsibility for ownership of their pets. They are not something to be discarded on a whim. They are a lifetime commitment and should be treated as such.

Letter to the Editor from Our Work Campers

Fay in the kitchen


Ted , taking a little rest from fence building

Letter to the Editor:

We just returned home after spending the month of March as work campers at the Desert Haven Animal Rescue(DHAR). This was our fourth straight year of spending March at DHAR.

Each year we have met and worked with a great bunch of people, some new faces each year as work campers come and go, and some older faces of local people that have volunteered their time and energy year after year.

Also each year we see new improvements at the facilities. Not a small accomplishment when everything is done by volunteers.

The most gratifying thing that keeps us coming back each year, besides working with and getting to know fellow animal lovers, is the wonderful way the animals continue to be taken care of. Not only in terms of the good food, shelter and medical treatment, but the loving way they are treated, walked, petted, played with and talked to.

You are really fortunate to have a group of people who spend so much time and energy taking care of these animals and we would encourage you to visit and support this facility. They can't save all the abandoned and unwanted animals, but the ones that end up there are the truly lucky ones.

Ted and Fay Earley
Redvale, Colorado

Week of 5/21/09 Humane Happenings

Sophia and her lemonade stand

Nine year old Sophia Nelson of Havelock, in North Carolina, recently held a lemonade stand while her mother and several friends were having a yard sale. Sophia decided that the money collected from her sales would be sent to Desert Haven Animal Refuge, the Sierra County Humane Society No-Kill domestic animal sanctuary. Together with the money, Sophia had placed a handwritten message in the envelope:”Last weekend at Mr. West’s house we had a yard sale. It went very well. I decided to have a lemonade stand to help earn money for Desert Haven. I made 20.50 profit selling lemonade for 25 cents a cup. I am sending the money for Whitney’s new operation.”

Whitney at the vet for her 2nd post-op visit

The words speak for themselves and we at Desert Haven find it heartwarming to see such compassion in such a young child. Whitney is Desert Haven’s miracle little dog whose strong will-to-live helped her beat the odds. Whitney was found wandering in the countryside a few months ago. She was starving, weak and badly injured. It took two costly life-saving operations to repair the damage created either by human hands or a larger dog, as she had been abandoned in the desert to fend for herself. Her story went on the internet, on this blog that Camille Pronovost of Florida started several years ago and continues to maintain. Sophia was moved by it and decided to help.

Whitney with Whitney

Sophia is The Sierra County Humane Society's youngest Life Member. She and her mother lived in T or C when she was a baby and until they moved to NC. Every time they come back to visit their folks, Sophia spends much time at Desert Haven, nurturing her compassion for animals in need. A special little girl indeed! Her mother is also to be congratulated for raising such a caring child.
Whitney roughin' it!

This week’s wish list: Chest freezer for Rainbow Bridge Pet Cemetery - Air powered staple gun – Dog Walkers and Kitty Cuddlers at DHAR – Dog and cat treats - Puppy chow for the seven cuties born at DHAR March 7 of this year and ready to go to their forever home – We also need canned cat food for the thirty felines of all ages and temperaments residing in The Cool Cat Neighborhood, which, according to a former DHAR work camper, is no less than the feline equivalent of a five star gated community – We need helpers at Paws&Claws thrift shop, also someone to help check and display donated tools, electronics and small electrical appliances to be sold. We also could use a grant writer for our animal welfare organization and Desert Haven. Interested in the work we are doing? Visit us on Tuesdays, or check us out at www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com. We can also be reached at 894-2778 or 740-0715, and at eliana4pets@gmail. com.

Week of 5/17/09 Humane Happenings

by Eliana Aubin


Jeannette Galliard, a DH volunteer with her two rescued dogs and John, a former volunteer at DH this past winter


Richard and Linda Brook - one native of England and the other of New York respectively - two soul mates, adventurous spirits with a deep love of animals, nature and the outdoors - committed to park their RV and volunteer for a couple of months at DHAR early in the year 2005. To this day, we still remember Linda’s compassion towards all animals and her special love for cats and we can’t forget Richard’s wonderful sense of humor.

A few weeks ago, the Sierra County Humane Society president received a package in the mail – a personal gift from the freedom-loving couple she had enjoyed working with in 2005. Inside the package was a newly printed hard-back book “The Long and Wine-ing Road”, written by Richard himself and published by Authorhouse on 10-7-08. In this witty and easy-to-read book, Richard, an excellent writer by the way, was describing the couple’s “ true life fairy tale” which began in Africa when they met in 1999 and later took them together on their new adventures-on-wheels across America. Richard and Linda had also written about their two months experience at Desert Haven and the surrounding area. How amazing for our small domestic animal sanctuary to be acknowledged in this way! These are your own written words, Richard, as you contemplated your volunteer work at DHAR : “for me, this was a way to give something back without any financial reward: it was a good feeling.” A good man with a good heart!

This week’s wish list: Construction and roofing material - Insulation - Good used chest freezer for Dog Town - Used refrigerator for Birdland’s Snack Shack - Office help at DHAR on Tuesday mornings - Dog walkers and kitty cuddlers. Daily animal care at DHAR starts at 8 AM and ends before 10 AM. It starts again at 7 PM. While many of our local volunteers are either on vacation or taking a needed rest at this time of the year, we need folks to take their place for a while, any day of the week and shift of your choice.

Paws & Claws thrift shop needs volunteers to sort donated items and keep the shop open from Wed through Saturday. The crew is great, the work never boring and as a bonus, the great majority of P&C customers is very appreciative of the community services that we provide. We recycle and make available for sale at a very reasonable price to thrifty-minded shoppers a huge assortment of items, from the routine household wares and furniture to unique works of art and antiques.
If our readers are interested to learn more about our organization and find a way and time to become part of a work of love in progress, call us at 894-2778 or 740-0715. You can also e-mail us at eliana4pets@gmail.com, visit us on Tuesdays, or check us out at www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com. Until next time, have a purr-fect week.

Week of 5/10/09 Humane Happenings

Butch hauling brush

by Eliana Aubin

Lee and Susan Newman of Animas Creek Nursery deserve the sincere appreciation from all animal loving folks who are also interested in the on-goings at Desert Haven Animal Refuge, Sierra County’s no-kill domestic animal sanctuary - owned and operated by The Sierra County Humane Society, Inc.

Lee and Susan’s recent generosity, both monetary and in-kind, is very heartwarming to everyone currently volunteering at DHAR. Thanks to this kind-hearted couple, Desert Haven is now the lucky recipient of several gorgeous rose bushes and a number of potted plants and young trees. As an added bonus, many bags of potting soil was added to the contribution that Animas Creek Nursery Foreman Mike Slater very graciously helped load into the flat bed of DHAR caretaker Gene Wagner, who had visited the nursery with his wife Reba and son Stephen.

Reba, DHAR Animal Care Coordinator, informed the group attending the Tuesday meeting at DHAR that two mature shade trees will also be donated by the management of the Animal Creek Nursery as soon as arrangements are being made to have them delivered and planted.

As Susan was walking around the nursery with Gene, Reba and Stephen while selecting the plants and trees to be donated to DHAR, she told them: “We read the Humane Happenings every week and we appreciate the work that is being done at Desert Haven. We feel that it is a very good cause, so we want to do something to help”. Your kindness and generosity are very appreciated, Lee and Susan!

We certainly hope that the DHAR volunteer crew will soon have the opportunity to share a Tuesday lunch with them, walk around the property and show them first-hand what their contribution is doing to enhance the grounds of the animal sanctuary. Thanks to them and folks like them, and to a dedicated group of volunteers from all over, Desert Haven has become the “ Haven of Compassion in the Heart of Desert Country” that its founder envisioned in May 1999, when the then-undeveloped property was being purchased.

This week’s wish list: good used chest freezer for Dogtown - working refrigerator for Birdland, to store fresh produce regularly donated by Bullocks grocery. Dog and cat treats – no rawhide please. Summer vacations, unforeseen situations and emergencies have now left a smaller than usual crew at Paws & Claws thrift shop and also at DHAR, to care for its non-human residents. Consequently, we hope that local folks will consider donating time as Dog walkers, kitty cuddlers, office helpers at DHAR, or become volunteers at Paws&Claws thrift shop until Summer is over and our long-term crew comes back.

Interested in learning more about our organization? Wanting to check-out our list of dogs and cats for adoption? Contact us at 575-894-2778, e-mail us at eliana4pets@gmail. com, visit us on Tuesdays, or check us out at www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com.

Letter from our Animal Care Coordinator

Reba Wagner; DH Animal Care Coordinator

I would like to say 'Thank You' for the warm welcome my family and I received upon our arrival at Desert Haven Animal Refuge from Virginia, last Fall. We came to this area specifically to volunteer at Desert Haven for a just few months. Earlier this year, I was offered the position of Animal Care Coordinator at Desert Haven Animal Refuge. I accepted the position and my family and I made the decision to make this area our home.

The staff of Desert Haven and the Sierra Co. Humane Society played a big part in our decision to stay. When we saw the dedication, the care and love given to all the critters of Desert Haven, we knew this was something we wanted to be a part of. I applaud the work and dedication that has gone into making these two entities what they are today. Founder Eliana Aubin, all the volunteers of Desert Haven Animal Refuge (past & present), and the volunteers of Paws & Claws Thrift Store have worked together, for the love of animals, to create a worthy asset to the local communities.

Also, it is great that the communities of Williamsburg and TorC are so accepting and friendly to new folks arriving here. This is a great area and the residents should be proud of their towns and tttheir people. They make them what they are. We thank them for accepting my family and I into their community.



Reba Wagner (husband Gene, son Stephen)

Animal Care Coordinator
Desert Haven Animal Refuge

Hot Paws

by George Jepson


Steve & Bessie at Desert Haven

Here in the southwest it’s that time of year again: Folks out walking their dogs, mostly small ones, completely oblivious to the temperature of the sidewalks and the asphalt pavement; dogs bouncing along, taking five steps to master’s every one, in an attempt to keep their feet off the hot surface. It is not a test of a dog’s “manhood” to be able to take walking along on pavement that’s 140 degrees.

Let me ask you to do this: take your shoes and socks off and walk along beside your dog on that very same pavement, Hey! If you can take it. But don’t do it for too long because you’ll be asking for second degree burns. If I were to force you to stand on that hot pavement, in your bare feet, I would be charged with aggravated assault. This is serious stuff. Take care of these guys. Large or small, paws are paws and they can be burned and crippled. So walk your dog in the cool of the day. If you’re unsure of the temperature of the pavement, place your bare hand down on it for a slow count of 10. If you can do it then it’s probably OK. Happy walking.

Oh! Same thing goes for making a dog stand on the bare metal of the back of a pickup truck. Man, that surface gets hot.

Sent in by

George Jepson

T or C New Mexico

Humane Happenings

by Dolly Loftus


Eliana, Joy & Dolly in the office

It looks like summer is here. Somehow we missed Spring, at least a gentle Spring. The weather: cold, hot, windy or whatever doesn’t deter our work campers at Desert Haven. The crew is busy with landscaping projects, refurbishing and painting dog apartments and condos, and maintaining the cemetery. All of our work campers lately seem to be coming from Arizona. Patti and Ben from the Phoenix area arrived a week or so ago followed by Bill from Queen Creek. Not to worry. I’m sure there are still plenty of people left in Arizona.

Scruffie’s puppies are now ready for adoption. There are six: three males and three females. They are a terrier mix and will be medium-sized dogs when they are full grown. They will be getting their second set of shots next week. To see a picture of them, check out the blog post below this one. There are many other adoptees in our care looking for a two-legged companion, so come out and pet a few.

As mentioned earlier, summer is here. That means that we have to keep our animals protected from the sun by giving them some sort of shelter when they are outside and to make sure they have enough water. This is not the time of the year to take your dog to the store with you and leave him unattended in the car or truck. In big cities like Albuquerque and Las Cruces, you will get a hefty fine and be totally embarrassed by your negligence.

A big Thank You to our many patrons who continue to give large and small donations of money, turn in Bullock’s receipts, and drop off pet food and treats at Paws and Claws and Desert Haven.

Our wish list for this week is simply dog and cat treats. Reba mentioned that some outdoor solar lights might be nice to accent our recently spruced up landscaping. If anyone has some that they want to get rid of, please give us a call at Desert Haven (894-2778).

Humane Happenings

by Dolly Loftus


Scruffy and puppies
Photo by Skip Higgins; Raskal Photography

Desert Haven Animal Refuge has welcomed a new group of work campers since the beginning of April. We are blessed again to have individuals with all sorts of talents that really make the care and maintenance of our furry and feathered friends a joyful task. Gene, our jack-of-all trades person, has recently built the framework to enable us to attach some netting over the chicken yard. Then we will be able to move the peacocks there, so they will have more room to strut their stuff. Skip, a photography pro, has taken pictures of Scruffy’s seven puppies as a portrait shot. It will be posted on the bulletin board at Paws and Claws sometime soon. The rest of the crew is busy painting and doing other projects to make the refuge nice for the animals and our visitors. We must have a lot of visitors, because our adoption rate is higher than it has ever been. All are great success stories, and the new moms and dads keep in contact with us to tell cute tales about their new companions.

Dolly Loftus recently visited the schools to ask how the children and teachers liked their subscription to Kind News. The response was great, and we made some changes, so that more students were involved, and the reading material was appropriate to their grade level. Distribution of the magazine is an educational project sponsored by the Sierra County Humane Society to teach children and others how to care for animals. From the response that we get at Desert Haven and our Paws & Claws Thrift Store, we know that our community cares about animals.

We are thankful to a handful of new locals who have expressed an interest in volunteering, and there are some new faces from time to time helping out at the thrift store. Since summer and the travel season are coming, we are going to need some extra help when our regulars decide to hit the road. This includes our office staff at Desert Haven. We could still use someone for filing and clerical work with a minimum of computer skills. If you are interested, please call Desert Haven Animal Refuge at 575-740-0715.

Week of 4/19/09 Humane Happenings

Steve & Webster

By Eliana Aubin

It takes special folks to make an animal welfare organization successful, such as the Sierra County Humane Society, Inc. and Desert Haven Animal Refuge. Volunteer work is not for everyone, and those who volunteer in a small community like ours seem to have their plate always full while wearing several hats at a time. Caring for domestic animals on a daily basis requires dedication, commitment and a great amount of love.

This week, we wish to thank Joy Arnold and her husband Joe Pack, who moved to this area sometime in the summer of last year. Their interest in giving back to Society, together with their love of animals, have brought them to Desert Haven. While Joy handles administrative assistant’s duties every Tuesday morning, Joe Pack helps keep Desert Haven in good state of repairs and comfortable for all its furry and feathered inhabitants. The Mutt Hutt, the large dog house that Rufus and Shadow-2 are sharing in the Mighty Mutts’ yard, looks very Southwestern now, thanks to Joe Pack and Tom, a work camper who spent the Winter at DHAR with his wife Juicy. Rufus is now able to climb on the high platform that they built with him in mind. Gene Wagner recently put the finishing touches on The High Rise, a fancy dog house in the Cape Cod West yard, current home to Indy, Vicky and Shadow. The bright red with white trim structure allows inquisitive Indy, who also likes high places, to feel on top of the world as he oversees his domain at Dog Town from his privileged pad. There is also The Puppy Club House located in the Pooch Play yard. Several lap-dogs are sharing the yard and its structure which was very recently upgraded to add to the comfort of small sized dogs. The Penthouse, formerly housing Lucky, DHAR’s mascot and it’s very first canine, is now home to Maxwell and Mosey. Mosey has taken a liking to The Loft, where Lucky used to spend his days watching over Dog Town, as he used to welcome visitors from his favorite place.

Desert Haven is a true sanctuary, where furry and feathered creatures have a unique chance to enjoy life at its best, either until they are adopted or to the end of their natural life. The animal loving folks who live nearby and those who come from all over the US to care for these creatures, have the chance to get to know each and everyone of our precious animals, to treat them just as if they were their own, and they do. It’s a very special feeling that only a small and home-like sanctuary such as DHAR can provide.

Interested in learning more about our organization? Contact us at 575-894-2778, e-mail us at eliana4pets@gmail.com, visit us on Tuesdays, or www.DeserthavenAnimalRefuge.com.

Week of 4/12/09 Humane Happenings

Juicy in the Mighty Mutts Play Yard

By Eliana Aubin

The Sierra County Humane Society, Inc. uses several avenues to raise funds for some of it’s most crucial programs, including the Spay-Neuter (S/N) and Spay-a-Stray programs, which by themselves cost our local animal welfare organization over $8,000 each year. Bullocks receipts, Pennies for Pets, Doggie Banks and also Cans for Critters are some of our ways to raise funds.

Interested in helping our organization keep this worthwhile program alive? Collect bags of aluminum cans and drop them off at Paws & Claws thrift shop when it is open for business, from Wednesday through Saturday. You can also drop them off at Desert Haven when visiting, or contact us at 894-2778 for the location of our Can Corral on East First Street. This program allows our organization to not only help with the local “green” movement and keep Sierra County Beautiful, but it also brings in $$$ for our Spay-Neuter and Spay-a-Stray program.

Through our spay-neuter (S/N) program, the SCHS distributes rebates to pet owners interested in getting their companion animal sterilized but needing the financial incentive to do so. The S/N applications are available at Paws & Claws thrift shop and also at the T or C Police station, which has been the applications' pick-up point since the program started almost 20 years ago.

Our Spay-a-Stray program allows feral cats to be sterilized at no cost to their caretakers. The typical feral cat is born outside and has never lived in a home with a human family - feral cats inhabit a niche in our world totally their own, neither truly wild nor potential pets. Did you know that more cats are killed intentionally in the US than die of any other documented cause? Every day in every state, feral and stray cats are being exterminated, and this killing is funded by our tax dollars - wasteful, cruel, ineffective and, according to reliable sources, completely unnecessary. We believe that killing them systematically not only is inexcusable, but it does not even solve the problem of feral cat overpopulation. On the other hand, sterilizing feral cats steadily decreases their population. It is also cheaper to neuter a feral cat than to impound, house, kill and dispose of their body.

We believe in a common sense solution to senseless killing, and consequently, in the mid-90’s, we adopted the trap-neuter-release method of controlling feral cats in our communities. It’s also the humane thing to do. The SCHS picks- up the tab, and our local veterinarian performs his services for the Spay-a-Stray sterilization at a reduced rate.

Interested in learning more about our organization? contact us at 575-894-2778, e-mail us at eliana4pets@gmail.com, visit us on Tuesdays, or check us out at www.DeserthavenAnimalRefuge.com.

Week of 4/5/09 Humane Happenings

Jeanette Galliard & Tripp

By Eliana Aubin

Desert Haven Animal Refuge, Sierra County’s domestic animal sanctuary, is welcoming Skip & Marjory of Casa Grande AZ, Don & Ana-Lise of Oregon, and Dee, Dave & son Garrath of California.

Several DHAR Winter crew members have now left to continue on their journey towards new RV’ing experiences and new horizons. John and Rockett, the last “remnant” of our seasonal crew of work campers, will also be leaving this week. They will be sorely missed. John and Rockett were not only very helpful at the sanctuary and Paws&Claws thrift shop, often going above and beyond the line of duty, but they involved themselves in the community as well. They joined the local recycling movement; They became part of hiking groups and other healthy and fun activities during their several months stay at DHAR campground. As importantly, they spent many tourist dollars frequenting local shops, restaurants and Hot Springs while also visiting the entire Southwestern New Mexico region.

CJ of Caballo Lake RV park continues to be a strong supporter of DHAR in many ways. The picnic tables that are enjoyed by everyone in the DHAR RV campground came from CJ‘s park. Regularly, CJ donates construction material and other items to our sanctuary, as well as recyclable items to Paws&Claws thrift shop. The good vibes that are sent our way by this caring lady continue to be felt in many ways - someone who resides in her park and who wishes to stay anonymous regularly drops-off pet food at DHAR, we receive contributions from traveling folks who hear about us from her. Jeanette Galliard of Albuquerque, who spends her monthly R&R in her park, not only adopted Tripp, a dog of DHAR, but also became a strong, long-term supporter of our cause.

We continue to appreciate the seedlings donated to DHAR every year at this time by the Sierra Soil and Water Conversation District. Seedlings and potted native and semi-native plants help beautify the five acre Desert Haven property. Pruning the growing vegetation and watering the new plantings will soon become a weekly task in our high desert in this part of New Mexico. We certainly need a few extra hands year’ round to help our crew keep Desert Haven beautiful.

Wish List: shelving and roofing material for DHAR, bird seeds, cat food, dog and cat treats. We also need someone to help both Administrative Assistant and Bookkeeper in our DHAR office every Tuesday morning - computer skills helpful but not absolutely necessary.

For more information on how you can help our volunteer organization in some way, contact us at 894-2778, e-mail us at
eliana4pets@gmail.com, visit us on Tuesdays, or check us out at www.DeserthavenAnimalRefuge.com. For adoption purposes, you can also call us at 894-2778 for an appointment.