09/25/2017
To those of you that are my friends and know my love of animals and those of you that follow Ponies & Pals because YOU love animals, I have a bit of a story I need to tell you. I feel as if Ponies & Pals took a minor beating this weekend! We had a major petting zoo event this weekend, and had a large number of animals on display. One of these
animals was a jersey bull calf that is almost 3 months old. I purchased "Mr. Magoo" along with another calf from someone that claimed both calves were in good health, successfully on the bottle, wormed, shots, etc. I found the conditions that these calves were In to be less than desirable and one of them appeared to be weak and lethargic. Well, of course I had to take them - knowing that it would be risky, but could not let them stay where they were. When I got them to my place, the calf that had appeared to be weak, had a seizure and died within 30 minutes of arrival. The second calf, Mr. Magoo had a rocky start with us and it took about two weeks to get him stable, eating enough, and rid of the scours (diarrhea). He had one runny eye which developed quickly into such a severe infection that his eye had to be removed. Several days later, his other eye started running. We got him on medication immediately - dosing every 4 hours round the clock. Due to this schedule and the fact he is still on the bottle, I elected to take him with us to the event so I could monitor and care for him myself. Also important to note, as a dairy cow, Mr. Magoo's build is very different than a beef cow. A healthy dairy cow will always appear to be "too thin" as their body uses nutrients to produce milk - not mass as a beef cow. We even have informational posters in the petting zoo that explain this and demonstrate with photos. Well, on the first evening of the event we had several questions from folks asking why he was so thin, why does he sleep so much, etc. we answered accordingly without much thought to it. Next day, I ran interference all day long explaining Mr. Magoo's condition to our patrons. I heard everything from: that cow is too thin, that cow is over sedated, that cow should be in the shade (we had a 20x40 tent but some sunny spots) that cow is sick and should not be here, that cow is thirsty and he is blind and can't find the water. This calf is not quite three months old, he sleeps a lot! Just like any baby - and especially after he has a bottle. He likes to sleep In the warm sun - it feels good. And - he knows exactly where the water is - he is NOT blind - he has one good eye! And just FYI - he does not need sight to find water - he can smell it! Well the worst thing happened in the late afternoon. 4 police officers showed up at the gate to my petting zoo responding to a reported claim of animal abuse to a cow. The lead officer asked to see the cow. I asked him if he knew anything about cows and he responded that he had raised cows all of his life. The officer ran his hands over Mr. Magoo and asked me questions about his health and background. Based on his Inspection and my answers to his questions, he declared that there was nothing wrong with Mr. Magoo. The woman that called the police was standing at the fence observing all of this and proceeded to continue comment on the health of the calf and argue with me about my ability to care for him. Well, I kinda lost it at this point - I informed her (and everyone that had gathered to listen to this display) that Ponies & Pals is a USDA licensed petting zoo and that requires us to care for our animals under the guidelines of the Animal Welfare Act and I would be the LAST person that would ever abuse an animal. I am also embarrassed to say that at this point I was so angry and frustrated that I started crying and told everyone that they needed to understand that if this calf was not with me and under my care that he would be dead by now.
There are a lot of "experts, activists, and know it alls" out there in this world. Unfortunately, most of them don't know a thing about caring for livestock - or the dedication, time, love, and money that goes into caring for these animals. My question to the woman that called the police is this - why didn't you seek me out and ask questions? Did you not notice the robust health and care of all of the other animals in my petting zoo? But more importantly, I would like to thank the numerous folks throughout the day that overheard my explanations and told me "thank you for taking care of him", to the woman that told me "you handled that just right" referring to my response to the woman that called the police. I also want to thank the gentleman that came up to me hours later as he left the zoo - he gave me a hug and told me that I was doing a great job and don't "let people like that get to you". And finally the police officer that passed back by the zoo later that evening and took my hand as he passed and said "it's all good". I love animals, but I would not claim to be an activist nor do I support PETA or similar organizations. What is unfortunate is that most "animal activists" are uniformed and PETA would prefer to shut all petting zoos down. I agree that there are indeed bad petting zoos. But I am not one of them. I will continue to "rescue" animals like Mr. Magoo - and sometimes you will see such animals in my petting zoo. Before you judge, seek more information, ask questions, trust that I am loving and caring for that animal appropriately. I hope to see many of you at our events in the future.
