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Home for all kinds of exotic waifs and strays
THINK a pet llama or a monkey would be cute and easy to look after? Think again. The people that run the Exotic Pet Refuge know just how tough it is to look after an unusual pet, because they take in the lynxes and the llamas that have been abandoned by their owners.
THINK a pet llama or a monkey would be cute and easy to look after? Think again. The people that run the Exotic Pet Refuge know just how tough it is to look after an unusual pet, because they take in the lynxes and the
llamas that have been abandoned by their owners.Ria Wong paid the refuge a visit.
VISIT Pam Mansfield and as you walk to the front door you will be greeted by a pack of bouncing, barking pet dogs... and Diego the cheeky nine-month-old white llama.
Pam runs the Exotic Pet Refuge, and while she loves the more conventional pet, she is also mum to animals of all shade and stripe from across the globe.
Basically, if someone has a pet monkey or alligator that they no longer want, Pam will take them in. She receives no outside funding, and does it all for love.
Finding the refuge is something of a mission itself, as it is hidden away in deepest, rural Deeping St James.
But making the effort to find it is well worth the trip, because it is home to some of Lincolnshire's quirkiest characters, including 30 different species of monkey, Inca the interbred lynx and George the Mississippi alligator.
For as long as she can remember, 57-year-old Pam has dedicated her life to caring for any stray or waif animals which find their way to her door.
It's even been a long time since self-proclaimed "bonkers" Pam went on holiday or even had a break that did not involve an animal of some kind.
Her most recent holiday was nine years ago in Scotland with her late husband Mel, a trip she used to pick up a couple of primate companions on the way.
"We were both stupid over animals, if we weren't it probably wouldn't have got this far," she said. "I'd always liked birds but never thought I'd have monkeys."
Open day:
The next Exotic Pet Refuge open day is on Sunday, July 20.
The refuge is at 102 Station Road, Deeping St James.
Entrance costs 4 for adults, 2 for children, and parking is free but no dogs please. For more information call, Pam on 01778 345923 or visit www.exoticpetrefuge.org.uk.
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Officially founded in 1985, the refuge began to take shape some nine years earlier when Pam and Mel began to think seriously about looking after animals.
"Someone came to us one day with a small injured bird and it all snowballed from there," reminisces Pam, surrounded by her army of young volunteers sitting around eating sandwiches and petting the most adorable kittens.
The refuge is a stark warning to anyone thinking of buying an exotic pet – these creatures often need time, care and money that is simply too much of a burden for some people.
And even zoos sometimes give Pam a call when they no longer need or want an animal. For example, Doris the friendly 58-year-old Ground-hornbill bird was passed on to Pam after a London zoo didn't want to put her on show because she has a deformed foot.
Blaming shows such as Friends in which Ross adopts capuchin monkey Marcel, Sam Greenhill, (23) an volunteer since the age of 14, explains that temperaments change when the animals hit puberty, which causes them to become increasingly unpredictable as natural instincts take over.
Rocko, a cute and harmless-looking hand-reared black and white ruffed lemur arrived at the refuge after he attacked his owner giving him 27 stitches to the face.
And the "pet dumping" situation looks set to worsen, as a lot of animals have recently been struck off the list for the need of an exotic pet licence.
"Dangerous dogs have been in the news a lot, but now you are able to walk a racoon or porcupine down the road on a lead," said Sam."Do people think they won't do any harm?
"Racoons might look cute, but believe me, an angry racoon is something you don't want to have in your back garden."
Pam and her volunteers urge anyone thinking of adopting an exotic pet to think long and hard before heading out with a chequebook.
"It's not unusual to have animals come to us in a poor state," said Sam. "It's not that the owners have been cruel, they just don't know how to look after them properly.
"Monkeys often come in having been fed a poor diet and are overweight as people feed them on human food instead of the nuts and seeds they need."
The Exotic Pet Refuge is a self-funded charity which relies on income through fund-raising, the sponsorship of animals and cash raised on the six days a year the gates are open to the public.
Despite only opening for a handful of days each year, the refuge manages to secure almost 5,000 on a good bank holiday.
"We have no zoo licence so we can only open a maximum number of days," said Sam.
"And we wouldn't like people here all the time anyway because it's the animals' home and a lot of them have nothing to thank humans for."
Sam helps out at the refuge six days a week, and is girlfriend to Pam's son Darren. She started volunteering at the refuge when she was 14, and the two have been brought together by a passion for all things animal.
With the refuge so close to both of their hearts it seems only right that they live on-site in a caravan, so they are there whenever their furry (or scaly) friends need them.
As long as Pam, Sam and Darren are around the future for Merlin and Adam the hermaphrodite capuchin monkeys and their pals looks to be in safe, caring, hands.
The Exotic Pet Refuge is at 102 Station Road, Deeping St James.
Entrance costs 4 for adults, 2 for children, and parking is free but no dogs please. For more information call, Pam on 01778 345923 or visit www.exoticpetrefuge.org.uk.
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