Posted By Kelly Harding | 3 comments

We hear it often when we see a posting for a pet that is looking for it’s forever home “oh I wish I could take that pet home”, “if I only lived closer”.

I believe the majority of pet lovers, me included, if had the chance, the time, the room, would welcome pets in need a home.

Well I have found one person that does offer pets of various breeds, sizes, and backgrounds such a place.

I first became aware of Natalie on social media, tweeting various pictures of her brood. I learned that Natalie, like myself, is a supporter of the Ontario SPCA, the only difference between me and Natalie, is that I tweet and share for pets in need, Natalie gives them homes! Not all her animals are from the Ontario SPCA, but they have been rescued in one form or another by Natalie and her husband Gordon.

Natalie is no stranger to animals having grown up with cats and dogs, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, bunnies, even an orphaned squirrel her mother brought home. As a wedding gift she and her husband received two leopard geckos!

She  has always adored animals, since she was a little child. “Definitely my passion. I love being with them, writing about them, photographing them, and drawing them (I illustrated a kids’ book about a rattlesnake, called Katie of the Sonoran Desert)”

Natalie adopted “for real” in 1987, when she got her first “very own” dog as an adult, Chelsea a Lab-Collie-Pointer mix who lived to be almost 16. Since then, it has just been a stream of adopted animals, but things only really took off at the farm in the past year or so.

They adopted Ophelia the PB pig through the Cornwall OSPCA shelter in Feb 2014

No one knew she was pregnant at the time!

So we have Ophelia, her six kids, plus two more pigs adopted through the shelter

Ophelia and babies

Natalie and Piglet

The ponies and various poultry all showed up in the past year!

Finney and Esme

Our dog is geriatric and happy as an only dog, so I won’t get another another dog until he is gone.

Tristan and Redford the cat

Future plans… “Well, we will continue to take in farm animals from our local shelter whenever they need us to (so long as we have the space for them and means to care for them.) I’m pretty much at capacity for cats, LOL.”

Alex the Tripod cat

“I have learned to “never say never”… we’ll just see what animals need us, and whether we are good potential pet-parents for them”

Natalie and Gordon also volunteer at their shelter, both on the fundraising committee, looking after their Twitter feed, and writing the OSPCA “Pet of the Week” ad for their local small-town newspaper. They also donate $1 from every 1-kg jar of honey they sell to their shelter.

I have to say that any animal taken in by Natalie and Gordon have hit the jackpot with their love and dedication to animals and animals in need.

And on a final note, there is one more “character” I would proudly like to introduce you to, my namesake 🙂

Miss Edie

To read and see more of the animals Natalie and Gordon care for, check out Natalie’s blog “Knatolee’s World” or follow her on Twitter @knatolee