News and Reports

For the past four years, Ron Breland and his wife Gwen have been turning people’s trash into treasured support for animals.

“I put up an ad on Facebook, or ads on Facebook, asking for recyclable metal, junk, used items, items that people don’t want anymore,” Breland told APTN News. “Once a week, we go pick up the stuff up and then we go to two scrap yards.”

Through their initiative, Recycling 4 Animals, Breland donates proceeds received from old barbecues, bicycles and appliances to animals in need.

On Wednesday afternoon, Breland arrived at Sagehill Stables in Winnipeg to visit one of their beneficiaries: an Ojibwe Spirit Horse named Chase.

“We’ve been supporting Chase for about a year and a half now, and we’re platinum sponsors, as high as you can go,” he said. “We’re very happy about that.”

The animal-loving couple began their venture by supporting the Beagle Alliance–an organization that saves former research animals from being euthanized.

They later heard about Sagehill Stables’ Ojibwe Spirit Horses through social media and decided to expand their efforts.