Or How We Spend Our Profits--more photos via slide shows For foster/adoption info--go to the bottom of the page.. We moved to the country in 1998. How we have learned our lessons since then. When we joined forces in early 1990, we each had 2 cats and 1 dog apiece. When we got over the number 50 in 2003, we decided to work on downsizing (although I don't ever think we'll see the short side of 40 again). That is the price of being good at animals. This is what we do well. We have happy critters that live with us and seem to live a good long time. The ownership of animals. Life long, full of responsibility, but with excellent returns. At our house you will never sit on a couch without expecting to leave with a new coat of hair, but you will never be without extra body heat when it gets cold. Of course that same closeness gives way to those bothersome Missouri ticks when it warms up. With a multi-animal household we have experienced many wonderful sights. A cat that sleeps and plays with a parrot, a dog that protects "his kitty" from the others that just want to play, or just wandering with a herd of goats as your entourage. Let me introduce you to a few- Our dog pack usually averages around 10--depending on fosters or whatever lately needed taking in. All take advantage of the doggie door so they are very involved in day to day living. The oldest is Kiwi--one that transferred from Iowa with us. She is a beagle/schnauzer mix who saved our lives-literally. She saved us when a man broke into our hotel room in Memphis and since then, thinks she can do whatever she pleases, and she does! Moose is our Isabella fawn Doberman, a woose,and afraid of loud noises. With us living within earshot of a blasting rock quarry, surrounded by hunters, add those thunder filled summer storms, means she spends a great deal of time underneath my desk. But when all is quiet she takes guarding her back yard and keeping the horses in line very seriously. She's also getting old so we are grateful for each day she still wants to bark at horses! Then there is Cosmos-our terrier mix that owns the world and we are just visitors. Don't try to do anything without him-he needs to supervise! Now one eyed since another dog didn't appreciate his opinion. The offender found a another good home! Next we have our two little brothers--our ankle biters! Never thought I would fall in love with a Chihuahua but our two long haired boys have made a mark on our hearts. They were the typical puppy mill puppies and didn't even know what people were when we got them. It's been a long road to socializing them but they are coming around. They've turned into our traveling boys. And they have forever branded us as little dog lovers... We now have an entire troop of Chihuahuas (Bogie and Marley) with a rehabilitated fear biting Pomeranian (Buddy) thrown in. Seems like "little" eats less, discards less, and in general, are a bit less work--with twice the cuddle value.. Although we did end up having to get a puppy who will be our horseback riding dog--her name is Scout and just a late 2009 model so her personality is just beginning. Those are our dogs--and we love them all. Next come our cats-which number somewhere around 20-all fixed! We stopped counting. We have several that stay inside, more that go inside and outside, and then have a few that just guard the front yard or the back yard. The outdoor cat food also seems to double as the neighborhood cafe for the local wild life. We have trapped raccoons and opossums trying to get a free lunch. Fortunately we are trying not to name anything that only comes out at night! Then we go to our horses. We own Spotted Saddle, horses and are very proud of our herd. We try for colorful, intelligent, good riding horses and we have most of that. Sedona is mine (Janet) and I consider my "once in a lifetime" horse. She sometimes suffers from PMS but otherwise she rides wonderfully and she loves to go riding. Stacy has taken over TJ, her first born. He is out of 2 spotted parents and he ended up solid sorrel. We don't "do" brown! But despite his coloring, he is a pretty boy, and his personality matches our house well so he got to stay. And recently Drifter our 2005 buckskin and white baby has joined our riding group. Stacy is loving him and he looks to be taking over some of TJ's job. I'm lookin for something to start to replace Sedona since we had to give Coaster away because of injury. And we sometimes come across a good one that we will sell to help feed the others but good homes are a must! Now let me tell you about our goats and llama! They are one of my favorites. We have pygmy goats, which as a friend was quick to point out, not really good for anything. But they are great pets and entertainment. And recently we've started my dream of raising Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats. And they are actually good for something and worth something! We've had a few bumps in the road, but we just had our first babies and they turned out colorful and cute. And over half had blue eyes! We hope to add a second unrelated buck and then we should be able to start offering our kids for sale. Meanwhile they love to lay next to me and get scratched and always take walks with us through the woods. They earn their keep by clearing the brush in our woods and their personalities are very amusing to watch. I would highly recommend goats to anyone that has a place for them. People have told us to they were hard to keep fenced in but I guess ours just like where they live. They come when they are called and are perfectly content. I love them so. Our llama are the goat's protectors and the horses nemesis. AJ loves to chase and spit at the horses. We lost Pancho in the summer of 2006 but he taught AJ well. He's doing his best to live up to Pancho's big shoes and I think he will do him proud. That is pretty much our family in spring of 2010. It does seem to grow and change through the years. We hope you enjoy the pictures...we are proud of all them. More can been seen via slide shows on photo page past & present.         And why we have so many animals... We have no adequate shelter locally, just a local thrift shop with cats and the dogs all fostered elsewhere, We also live in the "puppy mill capital of the world", southern Missouri. Puppy mills are becoming a popular source of income in rural poor areas and as long as there is a pet store market, it will be a problem. As a result we get regular phone calls or drop offs of unwanted dogs and cats. We do have our own family lifers, but usually have some that are just enjoying life with us until we find them someone almost has nice. Since we have moved down here we have proudly found homes for well over 100 animals--all spayed or neutered before they left our home. We have ourselves been frustrated by the cost and rules of rescue or humane society adoptions, so all we ask is that you give a good home, and if you want to donate for the future--it's appreciated. And we do take that "good home" statement seriously. We usually adopt by word of mouth--or depend on our gut feelings. Let us know if you are interested in adopting and we will see what we can do. The number of homeless critters in our area is staggering--and we will go that extra mile if we can make a match. Adopting a stray critter is a beginning to making an individual difference to help the world. Getting someone you know to spay or neuter their own critter, that they might have left intact--is almost as good. Doing both is just plain good for your karma...