Photo by Michael J. GallegosTribune

Tribune

Kathy, a client of Maxcare Inc., gets a kiss from a rescued dog at the Watermelon Mountain Ranch animal sanctuary in Rio Rancho. Maxcare, which assists adults with developmental disabilities, is one of several groups that, along with individual volunteers, allow the ranch to handle thousands of animals a year.

Photo by Michael J. GallegosTribune

Tribune

Volunteer Susan Barker finds a quiet spot to brush Angelina, a rescued dog at Watermelon Mountain Ranch in Rio Rancho. "I come here three days a week to volunteer," she said. "It's good for the animals, and it's good for the volunteers."

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RIO RANCHO — Kathy sits clad in red jeans and a red and white striped T-shirt with a silky, black and white cat on her lap.

Kathy is grinning, and it sure looks as though her feline friend has a silly grin on his face, too.

"I love kitties," Kathy, 43, said. "I get to volunteer here every week, and I like it. The animals are really sweet and I play with them every time."

Kathy is among the hundreds of people, young and older, who assist Watermelon Mountain Ranch, a 10-acre, no-kill animal sanctuary in Rio Rancho.

Kathy is a client of Maxcare Inc., an Albuquerque facility that assists adults with developmental disabilities. Because of Maxcare policies, Kathy's last name cannot be published.

Maxcare has five group homes and a day services program, and its clients acquire independent skills through volunteer work.

Chris Curry, Maxcare program director, said Maxcare's clients get "an opportunity to really get out and work with animals. What they do . . . o help socialize the dogs and cats."

The clients and many other volunteers "like their contributing to the greater society," Curry said. "They like getting out there and interacting with a lot of different people and taking care of other living beings."

Volunteers make it happen

Watermelon Mountain Ranch was first conceptualized 11 years ago through the efforts of Sophia and Lee Di Clemente, along with volunteers who help rescue animals and run the facility.

Today, the ranch provides housing and rehabilitation to dogs, rabbits and cats, and has plans to expand its services in the next few years.

The animal sanctuary is a nonprofit organization and receives most of its funding through private donations combined with government aid and grants. The ranch's budget is also supplemented by adoption and surrendering fees, and fees for emergency veterinarian care services and pet boarding.

The ranch takes in animals off the street, injured animals and surrendered pets whose owners can no longer care for them. It also rescue animals on the list for euthanasia at municipal animal shelters.

Michael Davis, the ranch's development and communication director, said the ranch has about 700 volunteers and relies on them heavily to help keep costs down.

"We have about 4,000 animals come through our doors every year and a budget of only about $500,000," Davis said.

Davis said the shelter also boasts a high adoption rate. Last year, Watermelon took in nearly 4,200 animals. Of those, Davis said 4,189 were adopted out.

Besides Maxcare, the sanctuary works with individual volunteers, 4-H groups, developmentally disabled children, court-ordered community service groups, local schools and students from the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University.

"We really don't have a large staff," Davis said. "We rely heavily on our volunteers, or we wouldn't be able to make this happen."

A delight in helping

Maxcare has been working with Watermelon for the past six months. Every week, eight of Maxcare's clients are shuttled up the bumpy dirt roads to the open spaces of the animal sanctuary, and eager adults head to Earl's Catnip Inn, the ranch's cattery.

Inside, more than 50 cats roam freely inside their own cottage, furnished with feline-friendly scratching posts, staggered carpet ledges and soft beds.

Curry said Maxcare members participate in a variety of service activities, and the decision to partner with Watermelon was an easy one.

"A lot of our people have a love for animals; so we came up with Watermelon Mountain Ranch, and the people here voted for it," Curry said. "They said they wanted to work with animals."

Joanne Sanders, 41, is a Maxcare caregiver who supervises another client named Don. Sanders said where Don goes, she goes.

Although Sanders admits she's not much of an animal lover, she said she enjoys watching Don interact with the animals at the ranch.

In addition to playing with the cats, Maxcare clients get to choose the dogs they would like to walk. The dogs are housed in Canine Cottage, which has large pens with outdoor runs.

"It's just great to see how excited (Don) gets," Sanders said. "He pets the animals, and it provides an opportunity for him to be gentle. He always says he wants to get one."

Sanders said even after she and Don leave the ranch, he talks about the animals and how they interacted with him.

Curry said many of Maxcare's clients also have paying jobs.

Before she started volunteering at Watermelon, Kathy said she used to work at an animal shelter where she would clean cages and make sure the animals had fresh water.

Kathy currently volunteers at a nursing home where she offers camaraderie to the home's residents. Kathy said she plans to continue working with animals in the future.

Many of Watermelon's volunteers, like Kathy, love animals but might not be able to have a pet of their own, said Michael Davis, the ranch's development and communication director.

In Kathy's case, she lives in a group home, and her roommate is allergic to animals.

Davis said the daily socialization the cats receive from volunteers like Kathy and Don means the cats are house-trained and self-assured when people adopt them.

"When you come in here, you're not going to see scared cats in cages," Davis said. "They don't exist out here."