| March 7, 2007 |
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The owner of a local no-kill animal santcuary that is home to hundreds of animals says a December snowstorm buried fundraiser plans and that foreclosure proceedings are under way.
Maxine Mager, who has owned and operated Creative Acres for nearly two decades, is asking for donations to help keep the unique animal shelter thriving. Mager said because her property is zoned agricultural, she has until August to come up with about $340,000 to redeem the property. Mager made a public plea shortly after the blizzard for help because she was snowed in and was worried for the lives of her animals. She said the public did step forward but those donations went to helping the creatures of the sanctuary.
"I had to make a choice. Do I use these donations to pay the mortgage or do I use it to feed them, pay their medical and keep them surviving daily?" Mager asked.
She said she chose the latter.
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| December 30, 2006 |
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Los Angeles Times
The Denver Agency for Human Rights rounded up dozens of volunteers to take boxes filled with tuna, peanut butter and soup to the homebound. Other volunteers shoveled senior citizens' driveways, hoping to clear paths so that medical suppliers could stick to their schedules for delivering oxygen tanks.
Maxine Mager could have used some of that volunteer spirit at her sanctuary for abandoned animals, Creative Acres, in Brighton, Colo. She spent Christmas week clearing paths through 4-foot drifts deposited by the first blizzard so she could get to the barns to feed and water her 350 horses, peacocks, pigs and other animals. By Thursday afternoon, the paths had been obliterated by more than a foot of new snow. The animals' shed roofs were leaking. And two roosters — Buddy and Romeo — were dead.
Mager had already taken every animal she could into the warmth of her home.
"There's a chicken in my shower," she said. The rabbits huddled by the toilet. The turkeys took over a sun room normally reserved for cats. The iguanas, ferrets, chinchillas and hedgehogs made room for a few stray pigs.
"Everybody gets along," Mager said. She, however, was exhausted and frostbitten, as she had to trek through the snow several times a day to clean out the barns where the bigger animals lived. "I've been going from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.," she said. "I never give up on these animals." read more
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| December 27, 2006 |
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By Monte Whaley, Denver Post
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| Many of the 350 or so animals at Creative Acres sanctuary east of Brighton are in a struggle for survival after last week's blizzard. Owner Maxine Mager, hugging Howie the emu Tuesday, has been toiling 10 to 12 hours a day digging through drifts so she can bring food to the animals. She's seeking volunteers to help her. (Post / Cyrus McCrimmon) |
ADAMS COUNTY - Last week's blizzard wasn't kind to Percy the one-eyed miniature horse, Vannie the one-eared sheep or to the rest of the scarred and orphaned animals at Creative Acres animal sanctuary.
Almost a week after the storm brought snowdrifts more than 8 feet high in some parts of the shelter's 44 acres east of Brighton, owner Maxine Mager is still digging out. She fretted that another storm later this week will further endanger its 350 or so residents.
"I'm really worried about what's going to happen next," said Mager. "I really do wish there was more than just one of me."
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| August 2005 |
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By Amanda Crissup, Metro
West Newspapers
BRIGHTON - Maxine Mager, director
and founder of Creative acres, an animal sanctuary located
outside of Brighton, created a program to teach interested
people how to become animal trainers using non-abusive
methods.
Creative Acres Natural Training employs
the same principles that Mager uses on the 200+ animals
that are housed at her 44-acre animal sanctuary. Mager
does not condone choke chains, shock collare, clickers,
or the use of foos to get an animal to respond. Instead,
she depends on the natural bond between humans and animals
for training.
CANT is a yearlong course where individual
participants determine their own pace. Mager teaches the
majority of the lessons for the course at Creative Acres.
Portions of the hours are completed with local licensed
veterinarians and other animal organizations.
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| July
21, 2005 |
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Chris Schneider
© News Maxine Mager rests with her chicken AKA and her
pig Junior at Colorado State University's veterinary
hospital in Fort Collins on Wednesday. |
By Joseph Garcia, Rocky Mountain
News
Anthony and Cleopatra. Romeo and Juliet.
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.
Junior and AKA.
"It was like love at first sight," said
Maxine Mager, who owns both Junior, a 15-year-old potbellied
pig, and AKA, a 13-year-old hen.
Mager is the director of the Creative Acres
Animal Sanctuary, a free range, no-kill animal shelter
in Brighton that is home to more than 200 animals of 25
species.
AKA was diagnosed with a bad heart last
year, leaving her weak and vulnerable against the pecking
order. Mager said she initially put AKA in the pig's pen
last year to protect her from the other chickens.
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| August
6, 2001 |
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No-kill site is woman’s
love
By George Lane, The Denver Post
August 6, 2001
ADAMS COUNTY - Maxine Mager has made a home
for a blind dog and a deaf dog, a one-eared sheep, a small
drift of pot-bellied hogs (which used to be pot-bellied
pigs), cats, chickens, goats, miniature horses and a half-dozen
full-sized horses. “We take any animal in any condition,”
Mager said, “and we’re the only ones who do.”
For Mager, love and devotion for the more
than 100 animals she lives with and cares for border on
being an obsession. Her criticism of other animal shelters,
and her desire to change them, is very near to a mission.
For 13 years, she has run Creative Acres, a no-kill, free-roam
animal sanctuary on 12 1/2 acres south of Brighton.
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| July
3, 2001 |
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By C. K. Reporter Anna Lieb, The
Denver Post, Colorado Kids column
July 3, 2001
DENVER - Do you ever wonder if there really
is someone like Dr. Dolittle; someone who can talk with
animals, as well as hear them? If you think that no one
could be like Dr. Dolittle, think again. Maxine Mager, who
runs a no-kill, free-range animal shelter called Created
Acres, is amazingly similar to the fictional Dr. Dolittle.
A different kind
of shelter
What’s meant by a “no-kill, free-roam”
animal shelter? “Free roam” means that the animals
are not locked in cages. Maxine said, “Everything
in life dies, but it’s how they live that matters”.
This philosophy about quality of life is the main reason
that Creative Acres is free-roam. “No-kill”
means that the animals are not put to sleep just because
they haven’t been adopted or have behavior problems.
Maxine believes in spending time on positive things. Instead
of spending half an hour arranging for an animal to be put
to sleep, Maxine would spend that time figuring out a way
to help the animal. Creative Acres also provides animal
companionship for special needs and terminally ill people.
Creative Acres is the only animal shelter of its kind in
Colorado and possibly the world. Maxine guesses that about
100 animals live at Creative Acres.
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| February
3, 2003 |
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Animal sanctuary needs gold for its golden-agers
By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
February 3, 2003
BRIGHTON - Adams County sheriff's deputies
didn't know where the emu came from. The ostrich-like bird
was hanging around near Barr Lake last summer. Its feet,
little more than stumps, had been shot or burned.
"He would have stayed out in the tall
grass until one of the coyotes got him," says Jesse
Waddle, who handles animal calls for the sheriff's department.
"He was going to be wild animal bait, is what he was."
Instead, Waddle sent the emu to a unique
sanctuary near town called Creative Acres. Owner Maxine
Mager specializes in animals that are old, sick, wounded
or just unwanted.
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| December
7, 2002 |
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By Kevin Denke, The Brighton Standard Blade
December 7, 2002
Moving, in itself, is no easy task as many people would
attest, but try moving with over 100 animals. That was the
task facing Maxine Mager at the end of October as she tried
to find a home for Creative Acres Animal Sanctuary, which
was forced to leave its original spot at 136th Avenue and
I-76 when a developer bought the land. That battle may be
far from over as Mager has enlisted the help of an attorney,
doing pro bono work, in the appeal process.
While the court case may linger on, Mager has shifted much
of her attention over the past month and a half to perfecting
a new habitat, 12 miles outside Brighton for her beloved
animals. It wasn't easy to leave their original spot but
Mager had little choice. "We didn't 'try' to make the
best of a bad situation," she explained. "We
did make the best of a bad situation."
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| December
3, 2002 |
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By Robyn Lydick, Staff Writer, The I-70 Scout
December 3, 2002
Maxine Mager never gives up. She never gives up on an animal
and she never gives up on her mission and dream.
Mager runs Creative Acres, a free-roam, no-kill sanctuary.
Only when an animal is in obvious, constant pain, will Mager
consider euthanasia. Several of the animals are receiving
chemotherapy and other life-lengthening medications. Some
are blind, some are missing limbs, some are terminally ill.
All receive love and attention.
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| October
28, 2002 |
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Cats, dogs, horses - even
emus - taken to new Brighton digs
By Mike Patty, Rocky Mountain News
October 28, 2002
ADAMS COUNTY - Maxine Mager said Sunday
she felt like Noah. Together with about 15 volunteers, Mager
moved more than 100 animals to their new home about a dozen
miles east of Brighton.
"We have been moving them all day using
trailers, trucks and cars," Mager said. "Everything
from chinchillas and ferrets, to cats and dogs, and emus
and horses."
For the past 13 years, Mager has operated
Creative Acres, a shelter for sick, unwanted and rescued
animals near 136th Avenue and Interstate 76. The property
was bought by a developer, however, who gave Mager until
the end of this month to remove the animals.
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| August
21, 2002 |
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By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
August 21, 2002
BRIGHTON - The owner of an animal sanctuary
said Tuesday she has three days to find a new home for her
140 beasts.
Maxine Mager lost a bitter legal dispute
last month with the owner of the 12 1⁄2-acre parcel
where she runs Creative Acres. The owner then sold the land
to a developer.
Many of the animals are old and sick. Among
them are horses, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, ferrets, goats,
peacocks and several emus.
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| May
21, 2002 |
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Kids
cuddle critters after raising $2,600 for animal shelter
By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
May 21, 2002
Tony Goldsby hesitated when Maxine Mager
handed him the kitten. "Do you like cats?"
Maxine asked the 12-year-old sixth-grader from Martin Luther
King Jr. Middle School in Denver. "I don't know,"
Tony said. Within minutes, Tony was petting the kitten,
and the kitten was playing with Tony's silver chain.
Tony was among 100 students who helped raise $2,600 for
Mager's animal shelter near Brighton. On Monday, Mager showed
up at the school with a selection of kittens, ferrets, dogs,
bunnies and chickens for the children to pet.
Raising money for Mager's abandoned animals
is a way for kids to start thinking about others, and Bev
Defnall, a language arts and technology teacher who organized
the fund drive.
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| May
2, 2001 |
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Unique
shelter dedicated to saving animals
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.
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