Modjeska Ranch Rescue offers sanctuary to animals needing comfort
Teresa Taylor gives some of her 20 dogs and one pig treats as her husband Russell Taylor watches. Their nonprofit Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue has morphed into more of a hospice and sanctuary for sick and unwanted animals. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Great Danes loom over a pack of dogs, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and looking over Russell and Teresa Taylor’s front yard fence, which seems more decorative than functional.
Great Danes are Teresa’s favorite breed, but around here, nearly all are welcome to pull up a couch cushion and lick their paws.
The 4-acre Modjeska Ranch Rescue is tucked behind a ribbon of road in the breathtakingly beautiful, yet sometimes punishing Orange County canyon. The area has been subject to floods and fires during the animal rescue’s 22-year history. Animals had to be loaded up three times, like a modern-day Noah’s Ark, and evacuated out of harm’s way.
Hannah relaxes on the leather couch at the Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue, which is also the home of founders Teresa and Russell Taylor. The Great Dane, 12, was hit by a car at the Orange Plaza and had to have lots of othorpaaedic surgery. Her front leg now consists of pins and plates, Russell Taylor says. Polly, a surrendered potbelly pig, roams nearby. The couch wears out quickly because of lounging animals and it is often replaced. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Polly, a potbelly pig, was delivered to the Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue at 3 months old wearing a red harness. The Rancho Santa Margarita pet did not impress apartment managers who forced her owners to get rid of her. She loves to have her ears tickled and her belly rubbed. Sundae, a Great Dane puppy with health issues, is in the foreground. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Teresa Taylor gets a kiss from Cece, a street dog from Mexico, now part of her Modjeska Canyon rescue pack. Taylor keeps the animals on a stringent schedule, “just like with children,” she says. Each of her 20 dogs has its own bowl and place to eat.” Afterwards, Polly, the pig is allowed in to “clean up.” (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Dogs and a pig named Polly co-exist at the Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue in Modjeska Canyon where co-founder Teresa Taylor feeds them treats. Taylor has written five children’s books in the voices of the animals she has rescued. Horses, donkeys, cows, goats, llamas, turkeys, birds, chinchillas, reptiles, and dogs and cats have all passed through the gates of the rescue. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A goat soaks in the sun on the 4-acre property of Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue. Unlike typical grazing goats, this goat, along with three others, doesn’t have a palate for mustard weed, growing wild in the background. Alfalfa is purchased at $46 a bale to feed the animals that were surrendered from a small farm in South County. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Gus, 12, a 130-pound Great Dane “lap dog” with an eye tumor, sidles up to Russell Taylor as Taylor sits on a one-person swing. “He likes to hug me,” Taylor says. “He’s really friendly.” Taylor has written about his experiences running the Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Marley, right, was one of 4,000 beagles confiscated last summer from a mass breeding facility in Maryland after multiple Animal Welfare Act violations. Many of the dogs were headed for animal testing laboratories. Humane Societies across the country took the dogs. Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue got Marley and his sister from the San Diego Humane Society and will be placing them in new homes. Sundae, a Great Dane puppy, in foreground, has an auto-inflammatory disease of the bones and is eventually going to have her back leg amputated. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Russell Taylor checks on his goats at Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue. The animals have a safe, sliding door enclosure after a mountain lion attacked livestock in the canyon years ago, killing several of his animals. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
With a blind left eye and a clubfoot, Surfer, a 15-year-old haflinger, was going to be put down by his owner three years ago. The veterinarian, however, was not comfortable doing this and the horse was taken to the Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue. “He’s a lovely guy,” rescue co-founder Russell Taylor says. “If there was someone who had a large pasture and wanted him to run around and look pretty, he’d be great.” (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Rocket, a 4-year-old greyhound mix, looks out over a fence at the Modjeska Ranch Animal Rescue. Found running wild in the desert near Palm Springs, it took a good samaritan a week to catch him. “Holy moley, he’s fast,” says Russell Taylor, co-founder of the rescue. “He’s the one dog we don’t let out in the front yard,” for fear of his escaping. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Taylors’ tidy and sparsely furnished home doubles as the sanctuary. On any given day, 20 dogs, a pig, a few cats and other creatures in need lounge around their living room and property, like clothing strewn in a teenager’s room.
Farm animals — horses, goats and whatever else fate brings the Taylors’ way — sun on the hillside. “I get 20-25 emails and texts a day of sad stories and pleas for us to take their animals,” Teresa says, then jokes about the ridiculousness of some requests: “We don’t take pink, left-handed whales.”
The couple’s passion for pets started with two dogs they plucked from a local shelter. After quickly placing them in new homes, they realized, “Hey, we can do this.”
By Russell’s account, he and Teresa have rescued 12,000 animals since 2001. To do this, Russell changed career paths from a job in international acquisitions for a franchising company to a job as a local Realtor for more flexibility. Teresa worked in a veterinarian’s office before retiring.
“On some days, I look in the mirror and think I’m doing good in the world,” Russell says. “On other days, I look in the mirror and think I’m out of my mind.”
