PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
SEQUIM — Wanted: An ark, but will settle for happy homes for 20 sheep, seven goats, five bantam roosters, three hens, two emus and a llama named Lucy.
Oh, yeah: There’s a neutered 3- or 4-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, too.
The animals were owned by Joe and Judy Taylor of Sequim. Joe Taylor must undergo heart-bypass surgery soon and no longer can care for them. So he asked Critterhaven to find new owners.
Critterhaven, the Silberhorn Road ranch for rescued farm animals, already has 152 creatures, so the Taylor herd can’t stay there.
Absent an ark, that means new homes.
Susan Stahlin, who with Bob Bashaw, her husband, run Critterhaven, has more details on the animals:
* The sheep are Soay, a small, ancient Scottish breed that shed their wool and needn’t be sheared.
Lucy the llama is their self-appointed guardian, Stahlin said Sunday, adding: “They’re pretty much a package.”
* The fowl are bantam silkies.
* Two of the goats are Angora, two are pygmies, and three are LaManchas.
And like the two-by-two animals were to Noah, all are free, although donations to Critterhaven will be more than welcome.
Plus, “people will be screened if we don’t know them to make sure the animals are going to good homes,” Stahlin said .
Already placed as of Sunday were four more sheep, five chickens and two pheasants. Inquiries about the remaining sheep have come from as far away as Oregon.
“I can send them pictures, if they want to e-mail us,” Stahlin said.
“I took digital photos of all the animals, and I can e-mail pictures out.”
Interested adopters can go to critterhaven@olympus.net or call 360-683-4681.