A local nonprofit organization is seeking donations and volunteers to help rebuild animal enclosures destroyed during the recent rainstorm that hit the Santa Clarita Valley last week.
Press Paws Ranch Retreat, an animal therapy nonprofit located in Agua Dulce focused on serving the cancer community through mindfulness in nature, discovered on the morning of Christmas Eve that all the main animal structures at the pasture were knocked off its foundation and flipped over following high winds and rain.
Robin Lee, chair and founder of Press Paws Ranch Retreat, runs the organization alongside her family and she was in the midst of getting ready to serve the animals their morning meal when she made the discovery.
“There were just a lots of hazards all over the pasture,” she said during a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon, but she and the rest of the team were happy to find the donkeys, horses, goats, pigs and other animals unharmed.
“I was panicked that I was going to find wandering or dead animals,” Lee said, but once she located the animals, they were just a bit shaken up, but nonetheless healthy. “It must have been terrifying for them with all this metal flying around, and we didn’t hear it at all during the night.”
All animals on the property are rescued and play a vital role in the Press Paws’ mission, which is to support cancer patients and their caretakers through engaging with gentle animals for healing.
But now, Lee is seeking donations and volunteers experienced in special skills such as construction to help rebuild. She estimated that rebuilding all animal enclosures would cost a minimum of $20,000.
On Saturday, following a slight pause of the rain, the Press Paws team and some neighbors got to work to create temporary enclosures. They repaired part of the fence, and removed debris so the pigs could be placed in a secure area but could also roam freely.
The goats, on the other hand, are enjoying their igloos, traditionally used to house dogs. They’ve even had some moments when they peak out of the enclosure to look at their surroundings.
Although it isn’t ideal, all the animals have some form of enclosure for the upcoming rain and the horses are more free-range, Lee added.
“At this point we’re just all kind of in emergency mode, just getting everybody safe, getting through the storm, and then we’ll kind of, you know, regroup and go to the next level,” she added.
But this isn’t the first challenge Press Paws has overcome in the past year. They also lost one of their horses named Dyna in the summer, who was described as “the heart and soul of our ranch.”
Lee and two members of her family were also involved in a car collision, and they all sustained injuries and are still healing from the incident.
“It’s just been a really, a really tough year. We have a lot of people here just helping and trying to, you know, keep our spirits up. So I think we’re doing OK,” Lee said, but “we’re just ready to say goodbye to 2025.”
To make a donation to Press Paws Ranch Retreat to assist in rebuilding their animal enclosures, visit www.presspawsrr.org/donorbox?mc_cid=13a557c870&mc_eid=e6334c0933
Volunteers interested in being of service can fill out a contact form on the organization’s website at www.presspawsrr.org/contact.
