Animal lover has quite the menagerie at feed store
Paula Winters and her husband, Thom, have owned PJ’s Backlot Feed and Emporium in Baytown since 1996.
“Because I’ve gotten a little bit older and it’s a little harder for me to get around, I don’t take in as many animals these days. We did just recently have someone offload a mother dog with seven puppies. We found a home for the puppies. We could not find a home for the mother dog, so I took her home with me. I plan to get her spayed and, hopefully, find her a permanent home.
“We do have a few other animals here at the store. We have a cat that showed up after Hurricane Harvey. We have chinchillas. We have a resident rabbit that all the kids like to come see. We had a parrot but it was sad, so we sent it to be with other parrots. Right now, I think that’s our animal base here.
“I also have seven horses at home. I love to ride them whenever I get the chance. We just took in one from an elderly man down the road from us. We always had kind of a gentleman’s agreement that if he got hurt or became sick, we would take care of the horse until he could get back. So we got a call one day, and he says, ‘Paula, does that offer still stand?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely. I would love to have Streak.’ So we went and got his horse, and he says, ‘Oh, by the way, would you take my chickens, too?’ So we took the chickens, too. They’re at the house.
“I guess I’ve always had a heart for animals. I probably get along better with animals than I do with people. I mean, they don’t talk back.”
— Paula Winters
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