In the pecking order, Anchovy is the chief chicken. She is an Ameraucana and lays pale blue eggs. “She will boss everyone around,” says Nicole Martin, who lives in Arden Park with husband Phil, and their daughters Phoebe and Lucie. “She will literally peck the others on the head.”Anchovy barely tolerates being picked up, but loves to be around people, especially Phil when he is working in the family’s spacious backyard garden. “She follows me around the whole time,” he says.
Early in 2017, an unaltered female terrier mix with silky red hair was picked up as a stray in Woodland by Yolo County Animal Services. When shelter staff evaluated her for adoption, she failed the behavior test. She was too frightened to walk on leash or to be handled. When they reached for her, she cowered at the back of her kennel. When they attempted to leash her, she struggled against the harness.
Leo, a spunky feline with soft swirls of auburn-red hair, is calling to his mom, Kitty O’Neal, from his outside sanctuary. “Are you ready to come in?” O’Neal queries her very vocal 12-year-old boy. Leo is perched on the top tier of his three-story cat condo in the backyard of O’Neal’s Curtis Park home, which she shares with husband, Kurt Spataro. Attached to the cage is a long tunnel made of netting that allows Leo to venture into the garden.
High energy would be an understatement when it comes to describing Harry, a 12-pound terrier mix who was named for his likeness to the pre-bath scruffy mutt in the classic children’s book, “Harry the Dirty Dog.”
Simon de Vere White and Alina Cervantes adopted the wiry black-and-silvery pooch last year from the Sacramento SPCA as a family dog for their daughters, Mari and Kyle.
Dakota, a fluff ball of a rabbit, has made himself right at home with his new family. In fact, he has pretty much taken over their Carmichael residence. A large wire pen has a permanent place in the great room. Cardboard boxes of varying sizes line up to form a tunnel in one corner. Small, inexpensive rugs are strewn about for better traction under those bunny feet.