by Vicki Smith, The Brighton Standard Blade
May 2, 2001

Have you ever visited a local pound, pet shop, or humane society and felt sorry for the creatures trapped in such small areas? You know that the animal's life depends on his purchase or adoption with a specified time.  Sometimes the animals are in what is called a "no-kill" shelter, again caged in small areas. But then there are those rare shelters called "no kill-free roam" -- Creative Acres is one such shelter.

Located just southeast of Brighton, Creative Acres is the work and love of Maxine Mager. On several acres she has created a loving home for herself and about 100 animals. Instead of 2' by 2' cages, the animals live in enclosures that are 10' by 10', large corrals, entire rooms in the house, fenced runs, large acreages. Smaller items like chickens and rabbits are kept in the smaller runs and larger areas for large animals. From barnyard animals to chinchillas she spends her days feeding, grooming, cleaning up after, and just being friends with the many animals that have come her way.

Many of the animals at the shelter came to her injured, abused, or with medical problems. They are not perky little puppies or playful kittens looking for a good home. Most will never be available for adoption, but will live out their lives at the sanctuary.  But that's a pretty good life.

There's Jessie the year-old puppy whose family in New Mexico brought him to Maxine rather than have him destroyed. He's deaf and she is training him with hand signals. Jake, a blind blue heeler likes to slide down the plastic child's slide in the backyard. Vanny (aka Vanna White) a young sheep who was attacked by coyotes and lost an ear enjoys running with Maxine. Junior the pot-belly pig was born with deformed front legs as was one of her roosters. They are both several years old now.

Maxine began the shelter 13 years ago with mentoring and support from Brighton veterinarian Alan Rice. He has always given her 150 percent support she said. But that hasn't been the case with everyone. "When I first started this everyone thought I was crazy. Then I was eccentric, and now I'm a behaviorist," smiled Maxine. 

Many of the animals at Creative Ares have been abused or abandoned and Maxine gets a call from local pounds or animal control agencies. A few like Vanny come to her through people who know her or have heard about the shelter. But Maxine knows there is a limit to the number of animals she can provide a good home for and is careful about accepting new ones.

When she does accept a new animal she's very careful about keeping it isolated for a few weeks to ensure that it doesn't have anything contagious that might infect the rest of the sanctuary's residents. There are a number of potbelly pigs whose owner didn't think they were near as cute when they began topping a hundred pounds, as they were when they were babies. Some of them came to her starving to the point you could see the skeletons in their feet she said. None of the bones are visible now. Also in the corral is a miniature horse whose back legs had to be wired, and horse who Maxine hugs and pets that they said was crazy. She bought her at an auction. She was just too smart and was bored said Maxine.

The barnyard has several horses, goats, a sheep, and ten or so pot-belly pigs. Nearby enclosures include roosters, chickens, turkeys, and rabbits.  There's an enclosure of pigeons in the barn. Several large dogs run in a fenced pasture and several more follow Maxine about the grounds vying for her attention. In the house are the cat room, five chinchillas, and two ferrets. Each animal wants to be petted and given attention. Maxine's hands automatically reach out to give a pat, a hug, a touch, as she tells about the sanctuary -- its successes -- its needs.

The entire operation's budget in 1999 was $66,000 as opposed to many operations whose annual budgets stretch into the millions she said. The majority of the large amount of physical labor involved comes from herself and her few regular volunteers and quite a few more occasional ones. The shelter also gets some youths and adults out there who are serving community service hours through the courts.

Maxine doesn't limit here outreach to just caring for the animals in her home but also tries to strengthen the bonds between people and animals through several special programs. She works with a youth program that brings high-risk teens to the sanctuary to help work with the animals. It's amazing how the toughest talking kid will relax and be gentle with animals she said. She has more than one success story to tell from that program.

She also takes animals, dogs and cats, to visit with terminally ill patients. They enjoy the time they spend with the animals finding comfort in the unconditional live and the pleasure of touching the wriggling, warm, furry bodies.

The animals also participate in many events. Junior the pot belly pig will be the star 'smooching' attraction in the Brighton area American Diabetes Association fundraiser "Kiss a Pig" event. Junior came out for the kick-off event last Saturday at the Brighton Senior Center and will be on hand for the final smooch at the Brighton Culturefest on June 16.

Educating people on the plight of abused and abandoned animals as well as how to care for and train animals is another avenue she pursues. She has been on area television stations several times giving information and does educational seminars at libraries, schools and other places. She is currently setting up a series of informational events at area County General Stores.
She wants people to understand the difference between the types of shelters. The ones who are "no kill-adoptable" mean they don't kill animals they consider adoptable based on age, health, appearance and other factors. The "no kill" shelters have animals enclosed in small cages. The few "no kill-free roam" shelters, like Creative Aces, do not kill animals unless the animal's quality of life is completely gone. They have open areas for the animals to roam she explained. It's the quality of the animal's life that she sees as most important, not the elegance of their surroundings.

Maxine also offers a pet training service. She will come to an individual's home and spend about an hour with them showing them how to train their pet. She doesn't want to train the pet for them and have the animal bond with her she explains. They should bond with their owner. She trains with non-abusive methods using no choker chains or pinch-collars. She also trains without using food rewards or clickers.

The sanctuary depends heavily on donations and gets good support from several sources including Eckholt Pet Products in Fort Lupton who has donation coupons on each bag of pet food and donates a percentage to her for each coupon she turns in to the business and Ideal Fencing who is currently helping her fence additional areas and repair runs and fences that were destroyed in the last heavy snow storm. Places like Country General and others allow her to set up donation boxes in their stores throughout the year. Max Foods and King Soopers have donated goods to the sanctuary and now Northeast Elementary School has set up a donation box.

The organization's brochures and public relations information are filled with letters of praise from groups who have worked with the sanctuary and quotes from veterinarians praising Maxine's dedication and the way she runs the facility. Maxine credits much of the success to the many veterinarians who have helped her over the years--especially Dr. Rice who has encouraged her since the beginning. The organization's board of advisors is filled with veterinarians from around the Denver-Metro area including Rice and local veterinarian Ruth Gussman.

"Maxine has been a veterinary client for more than 12 years during which time she has changed from a novice to very capable in animal husbandry and animal care," the brochure quotes Rice as saying.