On Saturday, we will be making the trek to Montana to rescue a llama. If you are not aware of this horrific situation, I suggest visiting the Animeals blog at http://animeals.wordpress.com/ or the animeals.com website. Just googling "Montana large animal sanctuary rescue" will also provide all sorts of details. Some of which, you may wish you had never seen.
I can honestly state that I never expected that I would be doing this. I love my alpacas. They are my kids, my babies. I know that technically, they are livestock. Truth be told, to me....they are much more than that. With that said, I still did not consider myself a llama person.
My alpacas are special. They are cute, and have individual personalities. Some of them are sweet. Some of them even seem to like me. Some are aloof. I even have a couple of true brats. Yet I still love them. Some I will not sell, but even those I am not fond of will never go to a home that will not properly care for them. Still, even with my love for the alpaca, I did not think much of llamas. I understood that they are a cousin to my beloved alpacas, but still....to me, they were pack animals. They couldn't possibly be as lovable as the alpaca, right? I could not have been more wrong.
Earlier in December, I noticed a post on an alpaca chat site announcing the closure of an animal sanctuary in Montana. An estimated 1200 animals were impacted, including 600-800 llamas. I thought it was horrible, but didn't really want to get involved. Then the reality of the situation hit me as I began to read the personal accounts from those on the ground. I read the stories of how the rescue teams showed up and simply couldn't leave. I read the stories, and saw the pictures of the true horror that was the reality for these animals. I then thought about my Mysti.
Mysti is my miracle alpaca. She was an accident. I left a gate unlatched last December. As a result, my boys got into the girls pasture and had quite a party. At the time, all girls had been bred; however, one of the girls had an ultrasound that was a "maybe" as her ultrasound had been performed early in her suspected pregnancy. I waited, and had the vet out to perform a follow up ultrasound. This time, Juliette was confirmed pregnant. Unfortunately, the pregnancy was dated to the time of the break in, not the planned breeding 2 months prior. Since Juli was not related to any of the possible sires, I decided to let her continue the pregnancy even though it meant a thanksgiving due date. November weather here is highly undesirable for a cria birth, but I was committed to watching over her as best as I could.
November arrived and I watched her like a hawk. On the 12th, I got word from our ranch manager that Juli had delivered, two weeks early. I rushed home to attend to the cria, and at first glance, my heart dropped a little. She was up, moving around fine but had crooked ears and wonky legs. She was the spitting image of the one male I did not want to be part of my breeding program. Oh well, I thought....I'll make the best of it. I soon realized that despite our best attempts to dry her off, she was still damp and starting to shiver. I made the decision to bring her inside to blow her dry as I feared she would not survive the falling night time temps.
I picked her up, and brought her inside. I turned on the hairdryer and began to give little Mysti her blow out. She stood quietly, and then closed her eyes, sat down on my carpet and I swear that little girl began to smile as the warm air dried her coat and warmed her skin. At that point, I fell head over heels in love with this little girl. I no longer cared who her father was. I no longer cared that she had crooked ears and crooked legs. She was no longer an accident, she was a miracle. After she was fully dry, I wrapped her up in two cria coats and returned her to her mother.
Since that day, little Mysti always runs up to greet me when I enter the pasture. Her ears were taped by the vet, and I gave her some extra vitamin d paste. She quickly transformed from the ugly duckling to a beautiful little swan. Her ears and legs are now perfectly straight. She is the sweetest cria ever born on our farm. She is friendly and smart. Turns out, her father is actually one of our best males. I completely misjudged her in that first hour and she taught me a very valuable lesson.
Mysti has no idea she was an accident. She has no idea if her sire is a dud or a stud. All Mysti knows is that she is here, she is alive and healthy and she is happy. This is one cria that is truly happy to just exist. She is happy to be alive and she proves this to me every single day. Whether she nuzzles me for an extra bite of grain, snuggles up to have her chin scratched or kicks up her heels as she plays with her buddies, she sends a clear message: "I'm happy to be alive."
That is when it hit me like a ton of bricks. The rescue effort in Montana involves hundreds of animals. Llamas, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, cattle, bison, camels, emus, you name it....this "sanctuary" had it. Unfortunately, this sanctuary became a death sentence. Animals were not provided basic care and were dying from starvation, injury, disease and the elements. I thought of my sweet little Mysti and realized that those llama crias that were being born in the snow and dying on the spot deserved what Mysti has. Their mama's deserve it. All of these animals deserve what Mysti shows me every day: sheer joy, the joy of just being alive.
At that point I just knew I had to become involved. I donated to two of the organizations coordinating rescue efforts. It didn't feel like enough. I applied to adopt a llama, and then got word I had been approved. I then went to Shawn and advised that I had applied to adopt and had been approved and asked if we could confirm the adoption. Shawn took one look at my face and knew how important this was to me and agreed we could rescue one of the llamas.
Everyday, I read the various blogs describing the horrors found by those onsite. I cry every night as I read the accounts of the dead and dying, or sick and injured. Shawn tells me to stop, advises that we are already helping by donating and adopting one of the llamas in need. I tell him I can't. I want to cry for them, I need to cry for them because for every tear I shed, there is hope. There is the next story of a group of animals making it off the sanctuary and into foster and permanent homes. There is the story of a cria that makes it, despite the odds. There is the chance that one more animal gets to feel what Mysti has always known. There is no greater joy than being able to live. Not just survive, but to truly be alive.
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Location:Rimrock Rd,Monroe,United States
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