Hope Ranch becomes animal rescue center
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers LOVING CARE- Lori Morris sprays a garden hose at her 18-year-old horse, Shyster, to cool him down and give him a drink after a long ride on Friday afternoon. "Shyster was my first horse," Morris said. "He started it all." Morris estimates that she now has more than 80 animals on her ranch including a golden pheasant, a tortoise, two llamas, multiple guinea pigs, chickens, goats, cows and even a pair of emus, a relative of the ostrich, in addition to more than a dozen horses.

Lori Morris and her family- her husband, daughter and two dogs- were living in Westchester next to the Los Angeles International Airport when they decided they'd like a quieter place with more room.

Morris also had a horse that she boarded, and she began looking for property where the horse could live as well. Now, three years later, the Morris family not only has more space- 80 acres on Encinal Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains- but about 100 more animals who are part of the family.

It started when Morris heard about six horses who were being mistreated. She rehabilitated all of them and was able to place five of the animals. The final horse, Lumpy, who has some lasting issues, will most likely live out his days on the ranch.

"It's always been Lori's dream to have property so she can have animals," said Julie Hoffman, who met Morris when she needed to place some animals. "She's been rescuing since she was a little girl, always coming home with stray animals. Somehow it's gotten around that if you know an animal in distress to call Lori."

Hope Ranch Animal Rescue doesn't advertise and Morris' number isn't listed, but somehow she's collected llamas, horses, goats, pheasants, emus, lovebirds, cows, chickens, guinea pigs and a tortoise over the last three years. She's placed many of the animals but continues to take in more.

Morris spends her days caring for each of the animals, bathing, riding and administering medicine to them. With her husband at work and her daughter in high school, Morris handles many of the challenges. She explains her motivation simply: "I'm strong," she says.

Morris rehabilitates horses and cleans stalls- she even bottle feeds the calves that were born in the last few days.

"I begged my husband to let me bring them into the bedroom, but it didn't happen," Morris said with a laugh.

Hoffman met Lori when she was looking to place her two llamas, two goats and four horses.

"When I was interviewing people to take my animals, I kept hearing, 'You have to meet Lori. You'll never meet someone who will take care of your animals the way you do until you meet Lori,'" Hoffman said. "She said she couldn't handle any more horses, but when she met them, she said, 'They are all coming home with me.' I used to think I was the best mom in the world to those guys, but she blows me out of the water."

Some of the animals on the ranch came from dire circumstances, such as one bull who Morris rescued from a rodeo. The next stop for the animal was going to be the Mexican rodeo, where Morris heard the bull would probably be killed.

Some of her horses were rescued from the Shoshone Indian Reservation after they lost their land. One horse was covered with bite marks from coyotes.

"They told me the horse must be the devil to survive all of those coyotes," Morris said. "So I named him Diablo."

When Morris found herself with an emu, she put out an advertisement looking for another to keep it company.

"A man in Venice had one in his backyard," Morris said. "I brought it home, and I was afraid they didn't like each other. I guess I was wrong, though, because the female is now sitting on 10 eggs."

The organization is named after Morris' mother, Hope, who urged Morris to register as a nonprofit. She completed all the paperwork and officially got the title a couple of months ago.

"Lori has a big, huge heart," Hoffman said. "She always loves more than anybody the ones nobody wants. She is such a caring person."

Hope Ranch Animal Rescue will celebrate its nonprofit status from 2 to 6 p.m. Sun., May 18 with food, entertainment and a silent auction. Visitors will be able to walk around the ranch and meet all the animals.

"When I first took those horses, so many people stepped forward to help me out," Morris said. "I was pretty overwhelmed, but it was so amazing how people helped."

Morris is still looking for help in the form of volunteers. She said she hopes that now that Hope Ranch Animal Rescue is a nonprofit, people will be more apt to come out and help take care of the animals and work some other jobs on the ranch.

For more information on Hope Ranch Animal Rescue, call Morris at (310) 457-0213.