Animal control officer relocates surrendered farm animals

By Daniel Gray

Windham Animal Control Officer
Jacqueline 'Jackie' Frye greets Lola
the cow on the animal sanctuary she
owns in Bridgton. Last month
she successfully found new homes
for 41 surrendered farm animals
in the area. SUBMITTED PHOTO 

Windham's own animal control officer, Jacqueline "Jackie" Frye, has a serious affection for all animals big and small. It shows with her choice of career, but not to mention the animal sanctuary she owns.

Back in May, Frye was called to an animal surrendering, where that the owner chose to relocate animals to a better home. Frye says this tends to be the case when someone is overwhelmed with animals, and overwhelmed they were for sure. In all, Frye took in a total of 41 animals including 12 rabbits, 10 hens, seven pigeons, six sheep, three roosters and three goats.

After the animals were surrendered, they were placed in her own animal sanctuary. She had received the animals on a Monday and was thankfully able to have them relocated by Thursday that same week.

"I put the word out after taking these animals in and, less than a week later, I was able to have them all relocated into good homes. I'm so grateful for all the outreach I got with people wanting to help out," she said.

Frye said all 41 animals were taken in and are being kept as pets, not livestock to be turned into food later. Any animal that is surrendered to Frye as an animal control officer goes to a “forever home,” and not end up a plate.

"I grew up on a farm myself, so I understand some people do raise animals for that purpose. I wasn't surprised when I get the occasional call from people wanting the animals to eat. But once you start raising them without that intent, it's a whole other story," Frye said.

Frye's sanctuary, Open Arms Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, OAARS, was founded by her in 2016. It's located on her property in Bridgton and situated on three acres, suited for larger animals such as pigs, cows, and goats.

"The sanctuary isn't a place for me to profit, but for people to learn," Frye said. "I want people to learn all about these animals. To learn how to take care of them properly and love them as much as I do."

Some special friends at her sanctuary include A'mel and Mazikeen, a Pitbull and Rottweiler respectively, along with Babies, Miguel-Miguel, and Cheddha the pigs, Wabbit the white rabbit, Lola the cow, and Billy the donkey.

With her love of animals, it's no surprise to Frye that is both an animal control officer and is the owner of an animal sanctuary.

She explained where her love for both came from.

"Watching animal control shows on TV back in 2012 got me motivated, I'll be honest. Then I volunteered with Harvest Hills Animal Shelter in Fryeburg. After that, I knew that I had to do both in my life," she said.

Frye said she’s looking to expanding the sanctuary and relocated it to Cornish before fall this year. She would have more than 400 acres there dedicated to the animals with plenty of room for them to run and play.

"It's always great to relocate animals into a good, loving home. And I wouldn't have done it without some help. There were a lot of animals," Frye said.

She thanked two people for helping her with the 41 farm animals relocations, including Amber Truman and her brother, RJ.

For more information about Open Arms Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, go to their page on Facebook to learn more about the amazing animals there. <