PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 17, 2025
Joshua Sparks, owner of Sparks’ Ark Animal Services in New Gloucester, has been taking care of animals for 30 years, being licensed at just 15. According to the Sparks’ Ark website, Sparks took over a major portion of the business from his father in 2013. In turn, Sparks’ father, David, is said to have been inspired by his youth in Maine, where he trapped and released animals along the shore of Sebago Lake, and befriending Helen Perley, a well-known animal lover from Old Orchard Beach. The business largely functions as an animal control service, removing and relocating wild animals from people’s homes, while also taking in and caring for non-native species that people have abandoned or are keeping illegally. Currently, the Sparks property houses more than 300 animals, ranging from domestic livestock, such as chickens and goats, to exotic creatures like sugar gliders and boa constrictors.