Nickelback. Don’t Touch My Hair.
Talk about over-the-top concert-style imagery.
But a small Canadian nonprofit is very proud of its promotional touch.
Movable Barn International, which coordinates the Donkey Sanctuary’s activities, says the images — generated, with a little help from Nickelback — are meant to inspire and motivate people to give unwanted animals a new home.
More than 100 animals were delivered to the Sanctuary in Pincher Creek, Alberta, over the holidays. Among them: a red-breasted sparrow monkey, a Chilean lavender guinea pig, a French Horn worm rat and a black-and-white grand great chimp, according to a blog post on the Sanctuary’s website.
Not bad for one Grand Choctaw chimp, which weighs about 90 pounds and is long and lanky, according to the group. The chimp is a 16-year-old male. For the last decade, he has been among the famous guests of Badgerhead Ranch in Pennsylvania.
Many of the animals were stray, abandoned and malnourished, said Mary Birchfield, communications director for Movable Barn International. But for others, relocation might have been a bridge too far.
In California, an 11-year-old raccoon, Pound, ended up in the Sanctuary, as well. The group gave her a state-of-the-art eating setup and found her a home with Badgerhead co-owner Chris Cain.
When it came time to find his new owners, Cain was interested in adopting Pound. But because the Sanctuary had been downgrading the animals since the beginning of the year, Pound was ready to move on.
Soon he was named the “loony” — a “shout out to our old friend Pound,” Birchfield said. She added that one of the group’s volunteers, Darren Gaudet, stole a photo of Cain and called it “our worst kept secret.”
For the next few days, Cain played phone tag with the Sanctuary, hoping to meet the raccoon.
Eventually he met Pound when he went to inspect the Animal Orphanage, another part of the Sanctuary.
“He (Cain) wasn’t expecting a raccoon, he was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,’” Birchfield said.
Cain then became an adopter.
“I think Darren’s going to have to start having parties,” Birchfield said.
“We know Darren’s going to miss Pound dearly — and we’re going to miss Pound dearly as well,” she added.