KEY LARGO, Fla. – Local 10 Animal Advocate Jacey Birch first introduced viewers to Pawsitive Beginnings, a non-profit fox sanctuary in the Florida Keys, more than a year and a half ago. Now the non-profit is giving back to children in the community.
The sanctuary was founded five years ago by Nicole Navarro.
“If you’re not rescuing these foxes, they would just kill them. Yeah, if they’re not profitable, they’ll just kill them. I mean foxes die no matter what on fur farms,” said Navarro.
The initial goal was to educate the public about the fur trade and how the beautiful animals are bred and murdered for their coats. Now they are helping to provide animal assisted therapy to children from the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter.
“Kai is our little fox that goes out and helps me educate the public about fur farming and the animal assisted therapy program,” said Navarro.
Coral is a fox at the sanctuary who connects with a child from the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter while her fox friend Reef bonds with a woman at the shelter.
“The foxes meet these survivors where they are, it’s kind of like a mirror, and then for the humans, it’s like a glimpse of into what their future could be like,” said Navarro.
Ben Kemmer from the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter says the animals help the children with their self-esteem.
“It’s just a great opportunity to help these kids that have been abused and neglected and are either homeless or runaway, to come and build their self-esteem back. When the kids show up, they don’t want to talk to anyone, and we will bring them up here and within 5-10 minutes with Nicole and her foxes, they open up and they start to talk to the foxes,” said Kemmer.
Even though the foxes can’t talk back, Navarro shares their stories of survival to help others in their trauma recovery journey.
“Unlike traditional therapy animals, where they are sort of trained to comfort, these foxes aren’t trained to comfort, but these women and children can see the resiliency and the desire to thrive and live and move past the past and recover,” said Navarro.
With every connection made, a fox life or even a human life may be saved.
“We have tapped into a whole new level of raising awareness that these animals are worth so much more than the fur on their back,” said Navarro.
Pawsitive Beginnings relies on donations to keep it up and running and to be able to utilize the foxes in their roles of animal therapy. Now for the first time ever, private tours are being held on Saturday mornings.
To learn more about the tours or to support the organization’s efforts, click here.
Local 10 viewers can also read other Animal Advocate stories by clicking here.
