By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

Fate may seem like an unreliable thing, but when it comes to the animal companions in our lives it is easy to feel as if they are destined to be with us, even if just for a short time. For example, just one day after visiting LaMancha Animal Rescue in Coatesville, my family happened to rescue a kitten found wandering at a golf course who is now wandering over my keyboard as I write. 

This leads me to wonder that if it often feels like fate the timing of when a rescue animal enters our life, imagine how perfect it most feel for the animal? At LaMancha, the serendipity found in saving animals is seen and felt in not only the humans caring for them, but in the animals as well.  

LaMancha Animal Rescue began in 2001 with saving horses and expanded its operations to include providing care for dogs, cats, goats, chickens and seemingly any other animal who may need it, including the two cows and emu that are on site. In their 23 years of operations, LaMancha has saved over 10,000 animals. 

LaMancha Team member Geoff Player said that many of their dog rescues come from southern states. 

“We partner with rescues in the south,” he said. “They’re vastly understaffed and vastly overcrowded.” 

Some of those shelters in the south are kill shelters. LaMancha will rescue animals at risk of euthanasia from those shelters so they can find a second chance, no matter how long it may take. 

Taking care of all the animals for as long as they may need is no small feat. The organization gets its main funding from the horses boarded on site but equally depends on donations and volunteers for its daily operations. Player – who has been associated as a volunteer with LaMancha for the past 13 years -- said that the agency currently has 270 volunteers. 

Despite the number of dogs Player has seen and cared for over the years, he seems to know each of their names as they all walk by. Beyond just the names he calls out, “Reggie,” “Ralph,” “Hattie,” he and the other volunteers acknowledge each animal’s personality and backstory as well. 

For example, Hattie, a Mastiff, looks intimidating with her large stance and sassy attitude. However, for Player, she takes on the agility course with ease and gingerly rolls over for belly rubs, when to eyes of a stranger just minutes earlier she looked completely uninterested. 

One of Player’s favorite rescues over the years was four Great Pyrenees they saved from Louisiana. LaMancha has a reputation for saving Great Pyrenees and have several  who live on site. 

“There were four Great Pyrenees who were basically living at a truck stop and fed scraps,” Player said. “They were feral, wild, so we invested a huge amount of time and energy and actually after eight months we had them domesticated. We are expert in domesticating feral dogs and rehabilitating dogs from abuse, starvation. You see some terrible things, but also the joy is that we see them get better and go home.”

LaMancha’s process with each animal is unique to the animal’s individual needs but includes socialization, enrichment, medical care and physical activity among other things. Two sister puppies currently on site, Heather and Ashley, went out for some physical activity while volunteers Whitney Minner and Krys Kirschner shared their volunteer stories. Minner stated that she started volunteering at LaMancha because of her love of dogs and that simple love is still her favorite part of the experience. 

“We call it our church,” said Minner, who has been volunteering for five years. “Some of these dogs are just so beaten down and shy and petrified when they arrive here, but then we give what we call ‘LaMancha loving.’” 

For Kirschner, who started at LaMancha in January, volunteering was a selfcare initiative led by past volunteer experience and close proximity to the rescue.

“I lasted three whole weeks before I took one dog home,” Kirschner said. 

Minner was reminded of the organization’s starfish logo and the story behind it during the conversation. The story goes that a young boy on the beach was tossing starfish back into the water when a businessman made the argument that the boy was wasting his time when there are still starfish suffering on every other beach. The man asked, “Do you really think that what you are doing is going to make a difference?” To which the boy replies, “It makes a difference to that one.”

“That one” at LaMancha just so happens to have a name. It’s Heather and Ashley, Rhett, Hattie, Sabrina, Delilah and countless other animals that have been rescued and adopted by the organization. “That one” in your home has a name as well, but beyond that they have a story, a personality and fate on their side. Even if it may not be possible to save every animal, each one matters for the crew at LaMancha and each animal’s fate is saved because of it. 

“There are people out there for you,” one volunteer reminded a dog. 

La Mancha Animal Rescue is located at 855 Doe Run Road, Coatesville, Pa. 19320. To learn more about its services and to possibly adopt a dog, visit their website at www.lamanchaanimalrescue.org., or call 610-384-7976.