…AND NOT JUST CATS AND DOGS!
We started Odd Man Inn with just 2 dogs, a cat, and seven backyard chickens in the suburbs of Portland, OR. When we moved to the property we currently sit on (just under 4 acres in Washougal, WA), we wanted to make room for other animals in need. Within a year, we had 60 animals under our roof. The magnitude of needs is often overwhelming both in number and severity. My nursing job was the startup capital for those first years.. overtime in the Emergency Room on night shift!
We knew quickly that we couldn’t adopt them all ourselves, so we started trying to help them get cleaned up enough to find a good home. We became a halfway house for wayward critters of the barnyard variety.
FIRST ADOPTIONS
Our first adoption was a man-chicken named Esteban. He was gorgeous, but he couldn’t seem to stop fighting with our turkey. I placed ads for him everywhere and finally found someone who was excited to give him a little flock of ladies to tend. No turkeys.
Our first pig adoption was an adorable little brown pig named Pig Newton. He’d been picked up as a stray in a less than desirable part of Portland, and ended up at the animal shelter. He was our initial introduction to the struggle farmed animals face when they turn up as strays. Many end up in the wrong hands, and they sometimes end up at auction. When we loaned our trailer to good folks with an aggressive pig problem, we convinced them their pig needed a friend. They chose Pig Newton and gave it a try.
It worked. Newty is living a charmed life with his adopted pig family.
We’re fast approaching 400 animals adopted out from this tiny piece of property. 400 animals of 15 different species have crossed through what is sort of like a foster home for our most vulnerable of animal friends. We help whomever we can, however we can. We make the space, meet needs, and help them find safety.
EVERYONE DESERVES A FOREVER HOME
We’ve used this phrase since day one. We believe in a world where animals are treated like family, no matter the species. They all have names. They all get the same level of affection and attention and medical care. We want a world where you’d never hear someone say, “but it’s just a chicken”. A life is valued just for being a life, and every life belongs to the one who holds it most dear. We are caretakers of some of the most vulnerable here, and we help them tell their stories as they stop in at Odd Man Inn… but the goal is always to help everyone find their very own perfect forever home.
Adoption saves lives. Truly. If you have space in your home for an animal friend, please consider adopting an adult animal in need.
-Wendy
