Hello everybody!!
I'm the Operations Manager at a non-profit animal rescue in Washington State, called Josie's Misfit Ranch (JMR). JMR specializes in taking in animals so are "wounded in body and spirit." This means we take in animals who are sick, old, pregnant, young litters, abandoned, abused, and neglected. We had a record number of stray kittens (barely a week old) in 2024! Taking care of those babies is a lot of work, including bottle feeding and helping them potty every 2-3 hours, vet care, keeping them warm in an incubator, and sometimes being with them in their final moments (it's hard for a newborn to survive without its mama). We have taken in several blind dogs, one-eyed dogs and cats, 15-year-old dogs and cats struggling with health issues, like cancer, and so much more. We give each animal the same level of care and love that we would give our own animals.
This last year, we launched our Seniors for Seniors program, which enables a qualified senior citizen from our community to be the permanent foster of one of our senior animals. This allows the senior animals to go to a safe, happy, and loving home, and also gives the senior citizen the companionship they're craving. We pay all expenses (vet visits, food, supplies, etc.) and the senior citizen supplies all the love and care.
Our goal for 2025 is to start a program in which we can help animals and survivors or domestic violence cases.
JMR was started when our owner, Marla Pugh, was living in North Carolina. She went to the local shelter to look at adoptable dogs and found one she just couldn't part with... Josie! She was scheduled to be euthanized just an hour away from the time Marla found her, all because she was a "scary" pitbull. It turned out Josie was the sweetest living creature on the planet and just needed some extra love. Marla made it her mission to help other animals who were turned away just because they are "imperfect" or considered "misfits."
Since JMR's birth in 2022, we have helped over 200 animals with the help of our board members, donors/sponsors, volunteers, fosters, and the entire community. We're a young organization, but we have so many lofty goals for 2025 and beyond. We know we can't save them all, but by doing everything in our power to help these animals, it takes a little bit of weight off of the bigger problem.
If you'd like more information about what we do, I'll add the link to our website below.
Thank you so much for your time!
Makayla Reed
Josie's Misfit Ranch
Operation Manager
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Makayla Reed
Operation Manager
Josie's Misfit Ranch
WA
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