Paws, Hooves & Wild Things | An LNN Series

Before the sun clears the La Plata Mountains, the animals are already up. So are the people who look after them.

Out here, animals don’t stay in the background. They sleep on our couches and graze our pastures. They cut through our backyards and, in fire season, run from the same smoke we do. Behind almost every one of them is a person: a volunteer walking shelter dogs before work, a rancher in Montezuma County up before dawn, someone near San Juan County who took in one more horse than they had room for.

Those people rarely make the news. This year, Local News Network is raising $20,000 to put them on camera.

Our six-part video series will cover animal welfare across La Plata County, Montezuma County and San Juan County. Our reporters will chase stories like shelters and rescues finding homes for pets, herding dogs and the goats that clear brush to cut wildfire risk, and how people and wildlife learn to share the same ground.

These stories won’t live on one web page. LNN will share each video across our website, app and newsletter, on digital displays around the region, and on social media. The people and groups we feature get the finished stories to share with their own supporters. For a small rescue or a family ranch, that kind of attention can bring in new volunteers, new adopters, or simply neighbors who finally understand what they do.

Colorado Media Project will match the first $2,000 we raise, counting up to $500 per gift. Every person who gives also helps LNN compete for #newsCOneeds prizes, so even $10 makes a difference.

Local News Network's campaign is fiscally sponsored by the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.