The director of a popular animal sanctuary in Edgewood was recently involved in a wreck that totaled her company vehicle while taking one of her rescue pigs to an emergency vet appointment.
Shanda Melendrez, aka “Mama Misfit” is the executive director and founder of the Misfits of Oz Farm Sanctuary in Edgewood. While driving some of the sanctuary’s precious cargo — a rescue pig named Vegas — to a vet in Fort Collins, Colorado, to get specialized care, Melendrez got into a crash that nearly threw them over a cliff.
“I don’t know if you know anything about pigs but they’re very active eaters,” Melendrez said. “Last week [Vegas] started getting real lethargic and just completely stopped eating, stopped drinking [and stopped] going to the bathroom. Our local vet diagnosed him with some stomach ulcers and started him on some medication, but the medication was not helping and he just really seemed to be getting worse.”
Colorado State Patrol confirmed the wreck happened on an empty stretch of I-25 about ten miles north of Trinidad, Colorado, around 5 a.m. May 28.
“A guy came out of nowhere going about 80 miles an hour and fell asleep and ran into the back of us,” Melendrez said. “[He] threw us over the guard rail after we spun around a few times, threw our pig Vegas out of his crate, and kind of tossed him around in the van. Luckily, our van did stop us from rolling down the hill, but our van was totaled and that’s what we use for transporting animals.”
According to Colorado State Patrol, it is unclear whether the driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash is facing criminal charges.
Now Melendrez and The Misfits of Oz, who have been rescuing animals from Kansas to New Mexico since 2012, could use some help from the community to keep the organization running efficiently. She says they need to raise $15,000 to $20,000 to get a reliable vehicle to replace the totaled van.
Currently, the organization has 56 animals in their care including 43 pigs, eight dogs, three cats, a goat and a sheep.
“It’s a very motley crew for sure,” Melendrez says. “We take in a lot of special needs animals, animals that have physical or health disabilities. I deal a lot with pigs that need some pretty severe behavioral management.”
Melendrez does almost all of the caregiving for the animals herself. The organization became an official nonprofit in 2021.
“Before that, I was completely self-funded,” Melendrez said. “I worked as a retail manager and paid for everything out of pocket.”
To donate to the Misfits of Oz, visit their website or their Facebook page.