VACAVILLE, Calif. — It takes everyday heroes to care for a unwanted or special needs animals and that's exactly what the owners of Funky Chicken Rescue do.
Darcy and Erick Smith started the Vacaville animal sanctuary back in 2017. The Smiths are dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating animals with special needs. Their latest rescue is a partially paralyzed lamb named Scooter McScooterson.
"Instead of euthanizing him, the farmer let us have him and his momma since he was nursing," says Darcy Smith.
Scooter McScooterson was recently featured in his new wheelchair on the front page of the The Daily Republic newspaper. The article inspired many to donate to the Funky Chicken rescue.
It also inspired ABC10 to get an update on the Scooter McScooterson’s condition.
"One of our wonderful Facebook followers gave us their late dogs wheelchair and now Scoots can get up on all four," Darcy said.
At any given time, more than 200 animals live out their lives at the sanctuary. Similar to Scooter McScooterson, some of those animals require special attention or a wheelchair to get around.
"We have one chicken in a wheelchair," Darcy said. "We actually have had several in wheelchairs."
Specialized care like this wouldn't be possible without the help of donations, but many of the rescue's fundraising events were canceled due to the Coronavirus.
Thanks to social media, Facebook followers are stepping up and even helped pay for a major surgery that could help Scooter McScooterson walk on his own again.
"We are extremely hopeful that he will be up on all fours and won't need his wheels anymore," Darcy said.
Darcy and Eric Smith are Everyday Heroes for giving special needs animals a second chance during the pandemic.
If you want to nominate an everyday hero, email John Bartell or follow him on Facebook.
CHECK OUT MORE FROM JOHN BARTELL'S EVERYDAY HERO SERIES:
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