Hope Ranch Animal Rescue

My name is Michelle Teruel, and I officially founded Hope Ranch Animal Rescue, a rescue focusing on exotic animals, in March of 2013, just before my 21st birthday. I have been planning for years to open my own rescue, but I never expected to do it so soon. 

It started with one rat named Petunia in the fall of 2012. I already had several pets at that point (including my favorites, my two rats: Snowflake and MoonPie, both rescues). Because I had so many animals, I was always checking on Craigslist for cheap supplies. One night, I was looking thru Craigslist and found an ad for a free rat. That already had red flags rising in my head. Any free animal(especially a rat) is very likely to meet a horrible end. When I opened the ad and read what it said, I was horrified. The ad stated that if no one came to pick up this rat by 11 pm it would be tossed out, which would be a death sentence. I immediately emailed the guy, asking if he would hold the rat until the next morning, since it was already 10 pm when I saw the ad. He said no. So I grabbed my roommate and we drove across town and picked her up. Although I got her with the intention of finding her a new home, I ended up keeping her.

That was my very first rescue, and it just snowballed after that. Once my friends heard about how I saved Petunia, they would ask for my help whenever there was an 
animal in need. At first, I would just place the animals with my friends or with fellow members of UCF’s Pre-Veterinary Society. However, there came a point in which everyone I knew who could have pets was at their limit. This meant that I had to branch out even farther in order to find homes for these animals. So I created Hope Ranch Animal Rescue.  By creating an official rescue, I could reach a wider audience and keep everyone posted on what was going on. This led to even more people asking me for help, which led to me taking in more rescues. 

In just a few short months, the rescue has grown tremendously, and is continuing to grow. My plans for the rescue are to one day expand to other types of animals, including cats, dogs, larger exotics, and small farm animals. I could not have done any of this without the support of my family, friends, and other members of the exotic and rescue communities. Rescue work involves a lot of stress and heartbreak, especially when an animal you have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into is too far gone and passes away. But it is the best feeling in the world when I can place an animal in a great home. Whenever I receive an update on one of my adopted animals and see how happy and loved they are, it makes it all worthwhile. 

Hope Ranch has grown to so much that I have come to depend on other individuals for help. One person has been such a great help that I have decided to promote her from a foster to an official partner in rescue! Madi Danner has helped me with all aspects of running the rescue, including fostering, rescues, advertising, and fundraising.