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Virginia

A Visit to Rikki's Refuge

April 7, 2008 : 11:05 AM

A tour of the sanctuary in Orange, Virginia

By Rick McDonald, Best Friends Network

After relocating to Virginia from Los Angeles, California, my wife Sarah and I have been looking around our new state to see what opportunities are available to us to continue to provide help and support for our animal companions, as we did with the Best Friends Los Angeles Programs.

We came upon the website for Rikki’s Refuge, a no-kill sanctuary in Orange, Virginia, that provides a “last chance” home for abandoned and/or abused domestic farm animals and household pets. Rikki’s celebrated its ninth anniversary in March, and it has grown to become the home of approximately 1200 animals. There are over 600 cats at Rikki’s, plus 31 dogs, nine sheep, 35 goats, 32 pot bellied pigs, six emus, 35 rabbits, 20 guinea pigs, six pigeons, two cows, one pheasant, three peacocks, 300 chickens, a few geese, ducks, and guinea fowl, and last but not least, one partridge (no pear tree!!) comfortably ensconced in this 367 acre sanctuary.

We found that Rikki’s has a regular schedule of open houses and tours of the facility, so we called to set up a visit on March 30th. When we arrived at Rikki’s we were joined by a group of young people from a local church for our tour. The tour includes a chance to feed most of the animals, so make sure you take this opportunity to interact with all of the friendly species that you will be seeing. We were able to feed broccoli to the emus, apples and melons to the pigs, treats to the cats and dogs, carrots and lettuce to the rabbits, and various goodies to the birds, sheep, and goats. Our tour guides, Jan, Candy, and Laurie are very knowledgeable, not only about Rikki’s Refuge, but also about all of the animals at the sanctuary.

Rikki’s Refuge is supported entirely by donations, and they gratefully accept not only cash donations, but pet food, fresh vegetables, building supplies, tools, volunteer labor, and almost anything else you can think of that the animals might need. One of the most pressing needs is paying the monthly veterinarian bills. Their website gives all the options here, as well as a special page just for Vet Debt.

We didn’t get to meet executive director, Kerry Hilliard, on the day of our tour, but it is obvious that Rikki’s Refuge is a labor of love for her, and for her core group of staff and volunteers.

Please click here to see a collection of photos from our day at Rikki’s.

Please visit the Rikki’s Refuge website at RikkisRefuge.org for a lot more detailed information about the history of Rikki’s, including how Rikki’s got its name, volunteer opportunities, additional contact information, tour schedules, and ways that you can donate to this wonderful organization.

Rikki’s Refuge
PO Box 1357
Orange, VA 22960
(540) 584-0870
mail@rikkisrefuge.org

Posted by Joy Moffat, Best Friends Staff
Photos by Rick McDonald

Comments

May 14, 2008 at 4:54 PM
posted by: Paulcandy

Rikki's has a Summer Open House planned for Sunday, June 15, 2008 from noon to 4pm. Come out and make some new friends!

April 7, 2008 at 7:53 PM
posted by: tinkabell

Thank you for the great write up.
I have been a volunteer with Rikki's for over 5 years. I encourage anyone in the area to visit for as long as possible. Kerry and her minions are a wonderful, caring and hard working crew. They work miracles with few paid helpers and a mere pittance of what most Humane Society Shelters have to spend each year. Every penny is stretched to the limit and nothing is wasted. Having to work in all types of weather with some of the saddest victims of humans takes a toll and is something that few can do. Those at Best Friends understand what I am saying. Things have changed in my life and I can't spend as much time as I did before but I hope to get back soon. While it is a place of refuge for animals...it has also been a place of refuge for me and others. When I have been down and needed a boost Kerry and the refuge have been my salvation. She is an extrodinary person and someone whom I hope I can always call a friend.

April 7, 2008 at 5:48 PM
posted by: Joy

We just received a lovely e-mail from the founder, Kerry Hilliard, and she gave us permission to share:

Thank you all. Really appreciate it. In 1998 when I had seen this property but did not yet have it under contract, I came home one evening and an unexpected IRS refund check that I have never figured out why I got and a flyer from Best Friends laying on the couch. At that point I'd never heard of Best Friends. I was so surprised to see the layout of the different animal villages. I'd been walking around the property that would become Rikki's that day thinking about an animal sanctuary and thinking Cats .. humm... Feline Fields over here. Dogs . Hmmm. Doggy Downs over there. And here was this flyer / booklet describing something like I was dreaming about.

I asked my partner if he'd brought in the mail and put these on the couch for me, somebody had opened the envelope the check was in. He said no what is it? I showed him and he seemed rather awe struck too. I said so what does this mean? He said, I guess you're going to run an animal sanctuary.

That's when I made the decision to start trying to raise the funds to buy it. Once it was under contract I called Best Friends and Faith answered.
We chatted for a few minutes, she said it was just luck she had been right there and answered the phone. She said give her a call when my plans were down and come out to visit.

Before I knew it the money was there and settlement was planned for August 14th. In September I visited Faith and Best Friends and worked in each department. Faith (and lots of others) spent hours talking to me and giving me hints of dos and don'ts. To this day it's been the most valuable information I've ever had.

I look up to Faith like a mentor. The first time we sat down together she said, "Now I'm going to tell you what we did wrong so you don't repeat these mistakes." How smart. Who ever tells you that? everyone was so down to earth there and so brimming with knowledge.

I'm very proud to say Rikki's Refuge is modeled after Best Friends - the best ever !!

Thanks for your kind words, Kerry!

April 7, 2008 at 3:28 PM
posted by: Jessica

Wonderful story Rick, thank you so much!