We have just four days left to get our comments in to oppose the BLM’s plan to conduct barbaric sterilization experiments on wild mares in Oregon. The BLM intends to remove the ovaries of 100 mares via a surgical procedure (ovariectomy via colpotomy) that is associated with high risk of pain, hemorrhage, evisceration, infection and abortion for pregnant mares. Recently Colorado State University (CSU) pulled its association with the experiments, but BLM is proceeding anyway! Please protect wild mares from these risky and cruel surgeries by weighing in today!
This beautiful mama and her baby are scheduled to ship in 3 days. WE CAN SAVE THEM WITH YOUR HELP! But once again it is up to you.
(I apologize for the quality of the photos, but they are all I have.)
Matt is still in Texas, as complications have arisen with 7 horses y’all just saved. All of the mares have clear Coggins (the blood test required for transport). However, only 2 of the mares received their Health certificates, so now we have to put the others in quarantine until we can get a Health certificate to bring them safely home.
It will cost up to $1500 to quarantine up to 30 days. Hopefully it won’t take that long to get them healthy enough to get the necessary paperwork. However, once we establish this “quarantine” we will be able to use it in the future at a fraction of the cost.
To complicate matters further, when Matt was heading back to “wait” for the vet to come out again, there were issues with the truck and off to the shop it went. That is the issue with having 16 year old vehicles and working them as hard as we do.Luckily, the truck is being repaired and will be ready to go today. We work really hard to keep them road worthy but they are old and never stop working.
Sadly, we are stuck at this point. We cannot bring the horses home who do not have the proper paperwork.Luckily we have a safe place to quarantine them, but we obviously did not figure for the additional expenses involved.
So once again we are asking our Chilly Pepper Family to not only SAVE ANOTHER MOM AND BABY!, but to help us get the funds to cover these unexpected costs, so we can quarantine these mama’s and their babies and get them home to safety as soon as we can.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KEEP HELPING US SAVE MORE LIVES, YOU CAN GO TO:
Last week, Colorado State University announced that it is withdrawing from participation in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) mare sterilization research in Oregon. But the BLM is not letting the lack of academic affiliation stop it from proceeding with these barbaric experiments. Instead, the agency is just dropping CSU’s part in the study, which was to assess the harm to the horses from the study! Now the BLM will proceed without regard for or documentation of the pain and complications — including bleeding, infection and abortion — caused by performing the barbaric and risky surgery on wild mares. This is unacceptable, and we need to weigh in AGAIN to oppose the use of our tax dollars to fund these cruel experiments.
We criticize the BLM frequently for its mismanagement and mistreatment of our wild horses and burros, but when the agency is doing something right, we must acknowledge and support it. Such is the case in Colorado where the BLM is partnering with advocate TJ Holmes and a coalition of local groups to humanely manage the spectacular wild horses in the Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area. Thanks to a robust fertility control program, no removals have taken place in this HMA for a number of years and no removals are planned. Now we need to weigh in to support the BLM’s proposal to prioritize bait trapping over traumatic helicopter roundups should removals be necessary in the future. Please add your name to our comments by clicking below!
The current Administration is promoting rollbacks of legal requirements for environmental review, public participation, and information disclosure that could have severe detrimental impacts on efforts to protect wild horses and burros. As always, we the people are the line that stands between these cherished animals and destruction, and we must continue to let Congress know that Americans oppose this Administration’s dangerous efforts to weaken legal protections for our wild horses and burros and the public lands they inhabit. Learn more by clicking below.
The BLM’s cruel roundup in Wyoming’s Red Desert ended last week, with the permanent removal 1,4444 horses from our public lands. Ten horses died in the roundup, including six foals, four of whom were literally run to death. Currently, the BLM is removing wild horses and burros from several public lands areas via bait trapping in Utah, Nevada and California, but the helicopters will take to the air again soon. See the latest info on the roundups and find out which herds are targeted next by clicking below.
MINUTES LEFT – Shipper is holding the truck. These 3 mares and foals are loading within the next half hour if we can’t raise funds.
We are going on Faith, as Always, and have an extraordinary Angel who is helping save these. But we can’t save all of them without your help!!!
This is an unusual situation for us, but for some reason God put these in front of us and made it clear we need to save them.
PLEASE HELP! Matt will have to drive to Texas and pick them up, and he is willing. So, please help asap if you can, and if you get this a bit later, please help because we are going on Faith!
The bail is approximately $2600 with bail, health and coggins certificates. Then we need to get them home.
Thank you!!
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KEEP HELPING US SAVE MORE LIVES, YOU CAN GO TO:
Maya came to AAE when her owner was facing a terminal health condition and would no longer be able to care for Maya or work with her. Maya was initially rescued by her former owner from an extreme neglect and abuse case, and one of her former owner’s priorities was assuring Maya would never have to face abuse again. She knew AAE would work to find a safe and loving home.
Maya was transferred to AAE at the end of September 2016. She unloaded from the trailer after a marathon haul from near the Oregon border, and she was a tad lame. Maya had some challenging trust issues and physical limitations resulting from a past hip injury from her abuser. She also had DSLD, further limiting her adoption potential.
While at AAE, she was given time and space to settle in. She was showered with love and kindness by her many special volunteer friends, and she was housed on flat ground to minimize the stress on her body. Thankfully, her old hip injury and DSLD maintained very well, and she never showed any discomfort. With the help of her special friends at AAE, Maya learned that humans weren’t all bad. She started to really enjoy grooming and all the pampering showered upon her.
Cahill came to AAE in March 2018 when his family was unable to provide the care he needed. He had also been rescued from a previous neglect situation where he had been living alone in a pasture and not cared for for years. The family that rescued him was told he was a former sheriff’s horse. He was emaciated and in poor condition when they offered to take him in. They tried to provide the care he needed, but they were unable to help him. They had a family crisis of their own. They reached out to AAE and asked for help.
When Cahill arrived at AAE, he was very thin. He also had substantial skin issues, a thick coat that helped hide his bones. He needed dental work, and he was very depressed. After starting him on a refeeding program and his vet evaluation, he had a much needed spa-day. He had caked on dirt on his limbs, and he was given a medicated bath. He enjoyed the water and the relief that seemed to come from treating his skin and getting rid of all the dry, caked on dirt. There was hope in his eyes.
Cahill began to improve and put on much needed weight. His skin cleared, but not before he lost nearly every ounce of hair on his body. His head and trunk were practically bald in the cold of winter, but he was grateful for blankets and the hair that remained on his legs. His eyes brightened, and he started acting with more interest in the horses and world around him. He enjoyed his daily luvin’ from his volunteers, and day by day, he evolved into such a good ol’ boy.
We are happy to share that our long-timer, Maya, and our short-timer, Cahill, recently found their “golden pond” with their dream family in Nevada City. When Maya met her new mom, it was obvious they were both experiencing a “love at first sight” moment. Maya is not one to approach just anyone, but when she met her mom, there was no hesitation. She walked up to her and there was instant pleasure in their exchange. Cahill, on the other hand, took it all in and drew mom AND dad in as he relished in their attention.
These two lucky souls got their soft landing in the perfect forever home where they are lavished with daily love and attention, and in return, their new mom and dad are say their lives have been so enriched by these two, and they have been fulfilled in being able to make such a big difference in the lives of Maya and Cahill.
It’s so gratifying to see the transitions horses make when they’re given the love and care they need, not only the physical transition, but the new hope they share with humans. They hold no grudges, and they become such a reminder of foregiveness, resilience, and unconditional living. Rescue horses are such a gift.
Thank YOU for supporting AAE and making possible happy endings for horses like Maya and Cahill!!
If you are considering adoption, please visit our website to learn about our horses!
Featured Intake: Beau
Beau came to AAE in mid-July when his aging owner was no longer able to care for him, and his caretaker was moving out of state. Beau is a 28 year old Arabian gelding. He was a truly beloved companion to the family, he had been with them his entire life, and he had carried many a rider on his back. Still, his condition was saddening.
It was a bit eye-opening when Beau arrived. He was a bit on the emaciated side, and he was “empty”. Dr Stolba came to check him out and drew blood to evaluate his “systems”. His diet had been four scoops of senior pellets (AM and PM), about 20-25 pounds a day. You would think plenty for this lil guy, right? You could tell immediately simply eating was a challenge. He chewed very gingerly, and food fell all over around the trough.
Sadly, when Dr. Stolba opened his mouth, the exasperated sigh was palpable. Beau did not have many teeth, but the ones he had were much overgrown, some loose and one so long it was pressing into the roof of his mouth causing an ulcer. He could not close his mouth to chew. It’s no wonder the poor ol’ guy looked like he did; he couldn’t eat. Four larger teeth were extracted, one so sharp it could cut paper. The few remaining teeth were floated, and he was finally able to eat comfortably. Boy, did he enjoy it. Now it seems he’s eating for two.
Moving on to the end, Beau sheath got some much needed attention, and he was beyond relief when a rock sized bean was removed. It didn’t take long to see the brightness return to Beau’s eyes and a little pep in his step. For now, Beau is doing very well, and he is slowly redeveloping his svelte lil’ bod!
Beau needs a sponsor! Would you like to sponsor Beau or one of our other horses? Please click here to sponsor. To learn about our horse sponsor program visit our website.
YOUR support helps horses like Beau!
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The latest video captured by our observation team in Wyoming shows a mare trying to protect her foal while being rounded up by a helicopter and men on horseback with ropes. Later in the day, our observer photographed the exhausted foal lying lifelessly on the ground in a holding pen. By the next morning, he was dead.
Most Americans have no clue what’s happening on public lands at the hands of our government. The abuse of wild horses is taking a huge toll. Roundups are hardest on young foals, who are pushed too far and too fast in the summer heat. Half of the wild horse deaths so far in the Wyoming roundup have been foals. At least three were literally run to death.
Here’s the math: if everyone of us shares this petition with 5 friends, more than 1 million people will learn about this abuse. And if just 1 of those 5 signs our petition, we’ll double the size of our movement overnight.
Just got an urgent call from the Shipper. Normally we get a day’s notice? But NOT today. There are 3 orphaned foals sitting at the shipper’s. They have already been pulled off their moms. Moms have shipped and babies are sitting in 100+ degree heat waiting for me to get there. One of them is supposed to be very young.
Time is of the essence and I need to leave now! However, we need some help to get up there and save those babies, get Coggins etc., buy some groceries for them, and bring them home to safety.
Appreciate any help y’all can give. Matt is heading home from CA but I can’t wait to leave.
PLEASE help if you can. Thank you from all the babies, but especially the ones sitting in the pens, scared, alone and crying for their mama’s.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KEEP HELPING US SAVE MORE LIVES, YOU CAN GO TO:
These two donkeys are simply adorable and at first glance they look very happy and well cared for. They came from a hoarding situation. SYA has been able to help their owner by taking in donkeys from her as she was emotionally able to part with them over the last five years or so. There is no doubt that she loved them all dearly. The woman is in her eighties and in poor health. I am not sure of how long it’s been since she has been able to go outside as she is wheelchair bound, let alone to do anything with or for the donkeys. These two beautiful cousins had been living in a filthy barn/stall/paddock area. Their manure had not been cleaned in years. The only water they had available to them was about six inches of green, thick scummy soup, and full of rotting leaves. Their hooves look ok in this picture, but several have major flares, and one has part of a hoof wall missing. In fairness to their owner, she did have someone in to “care” for the donkeys but was obviously unable to check and see how the donkeys were faring.
As is often the case with donkeys it seems, rather than being too thin, they are very overweight. They both have fat pones on their necks and flanks. Obesity in donkeys is something we see more often than underweight animals, and is in my opinion, a form of neglect. Donkeys are NOT little horses with big ears. They are a species that has evolved very successfully over a very long period of history getting by on very little forage, of often fairly poor nutritional value, that they had to walk over miles of stony, rocky, hard ground to reach. We plop them down in rich, grassy pastures and are then surprised when they develop hoof and other health issues.
I would rather take in animals that are too thin as it is so much easier to put fat on to a donkey than to take it off. A fat donkey is not a healthy donkey. I recommend a dry lot for all donkeys for at least part of a 24 hour period. They do need to graze for their behavioral needs to be properly met, but their grazing time needs to be supervised. Please be aware that allowing a donkey to become obese is shortening their overall life span and can, and often does lead to a myriad of other health related issues.
I am very happy that we are able to take in animals like these and get them on a regulated feeding program and an exercise plan that will help them slowly lose some excess pounds. A great way to help us do this is to join our Take a Long Ear to Lunch program. This enables you to make an on-going monthly donation to SYALER. All of our money to run the rescue comes via adoption fees, merchandise sales, and donations. The grants available for donkey rescue are very specific and we do not qualify for many. Any grant writers out there who want to donate their time and expertise would be more than welcome! Your monthly gift of any amount goes right into our operating cost fund and helps with everything from buying hay, supplements, equipment, to veterinary and farrier costs. Knowing we can count on a certain amount each month is a very comforting. To become a member of the program use the following link for complete details. Take a Long Ear to Lunch!
Summer will be winding down soon and I am looking forward to crisp, fall days already. We have a lot of fun things coming up. Our annual Benefit show will be held at Millot Green, Alstead, NH on Saturday, October 13th. A week after that I will be heading out to U.C. Davis Vet School for yet another Donkey Welfare Symposium. I am looking forward to that as it is always a wonderful chance to meet up with donkey friends I only see once a year at this event, and to learn more about how to give the best care possible to the animals we take in to the rescue. November brings Equine Affaire which is always a fun, if not exhausting gig. We are working on a couple of ideas for seminars/workshops at the rescue. We’ll keep you posted on those.
I hope to see you out and about at our upcoming events.
This is how the BLM rounded up 30 wild horses last week in Utah:
Our team captured these photos of the helicopter hazing horses, causing some to crash through barbed wire. These photos have already reached 1.4 million people on Facebook alone!
Right now, our observer is in Wyoming’s Red Desert, where the BLM is rounding up 1,400 wild horses from our public lands. At least six horses have died in the first five days of the roundup, including:
Two foals who were run to death. (“capture shock”)
One foal who was euthanized after breaking his leg
A six-year old stallion who was “injured and blinded by another stallion on a trailer”
Please enjoy this article from our friend, Josefine at the SWISS BULLETIN. Mules have made their mark helping people with their tasks all around the world and their stories are nothing short of amazing! Loving Longears is something special that we all have in common despite our different languages. Read it, below:
The last packer of Zermatt Belvedere
Mules in the service of transport and travel in ancient times
By Alban Lorenz
The Valais lies in the southwest of Switzerland and is our little California. This canton is known for much sun, little rain, high mountains, good wine, sweet fruits and many tourisms. The main valley with the river Rhône, which flows into the Mediterranean, has many side valleys. A great number of mountain villages there were still without roads until the middle of the 20th century. The inhabitants had to transport everything by their own or they used pack animals (oxen or mules). Therefore, the Valais was the region in Switzerland that had the most mules until the 1960s.
Me, Alban Lorenz (*1939) and my brother Elias (*1932) grew up in Törbel, a mountain village high above the Matter Valley. At this time there were still 40 mules living in Törbel, before motorization also arrived there in the middle of the 20th century. The last mule in Törbel, Apollo, died in spring 2010, shortly before his master Bruno Hosennen. Bruno’s girlfriend, the artist Helen Güdel, has illustrated and published a children’s book about Apollo and Bruno.
After my apprenticeship, I moved to Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, where I worked for the police until my retirement. Elias remained in his homeland and worked as a packer for many years. My family had his own mule. Some poorer families had to share a mule.
During the summer season some mules from Törbel were employed for transports up to mountain huts and hotels. The Hotel Belvedere in Zermatt is located high above the village at the foot of the Matterhorn, Switzerland’s most famous mountain. From the very beginning, all material, drinks and food for the hotel had to been transported up there by mules. The stable for the animals was near Lake Black (Schwarzsee), right next to the cable car station, that led up from the village Zermatt.So the mules could be packed right next to the station and led up to the hotel.
Goods had to be transported every day in all weathers, and the climb took three hours. The track was well worked out and led through steep rocky terrain to the hotel.Thewaste and empties of the hotel had to be transported on the same route back to the cable car station.
Mid 50s, early 60s, Elias worked some summers there as a packer with two mules on contract for the municipality of Zermatt. The mules he worked with were his own and a rented one. I had to replace him once for two days in the summer of 1963 and was able to make my own experiences.
There were times when Elias managed the transports only with his mule Belli. So it happened that one autumn day an early onset of winter arrived. The snowfall was so heavy that a walk back to Zermatt with the mule was impossible. However, the cable car could still run. This made it possible to load the mule into the cabin and drive Belli and Elias down to Zermatt, where the cable cabin and its contents arrived without any damage.
With Belli, Elias was also active as a packer for various other transports. When the Dom Hut of the Swiss Alpine Club was constructed high above the village Randa, mules were also used. During the construction of the earlier Monte Rosa Hut, the building material had to be transported by mules from the Gornergratrailway station over the glacier to the construction site. Belli had no trouble crossing the ice.
In Saas Grund was a transport company that often received larger transport orders. Therefore, the boss had to rent additional mules with their packers in addition to his own animals. Elias and his Belli were also mostly involved.
Unfortunately, Elias couldn’t avoid unpleasant transports. Among those were dead people who were fatally injured on the mountain. Once he had to bring down the body of his best friend on a mule, who had worked as a hut keeper in the Hörnli Hut.
One autumn day I was at home in Törbel, when my brother came home from Zermatt with the mules after a long time. By chance, I looked out the window of my parents’ house and saw Belli coming up the path. When the mule saw the house, she brayed loudly and ran the last part of the way to her place in front of the stable. This observation showed me that even a mule can be happy to finally come home after a long absence.
Photos of the Lorenz Family
In Saas Grund, in the background packer Edelbert Juon
Elias Lorenz with two mules on the way to the Hotel Belvedere
Elias Lorenz with 2 mules on the descent from Hotel Belvedere
Mule Belli with tourists in Zermatt
Parade in Törbel during a village festival in the 70s
Parade in Törbel during a village festival in the 70s
Additional photos from the internet
Riffelberg walk and view on the Matterhorn ca.1950
Photo: Fernand Perret, www.mediatheque.ch
Hotel Gornergrat with packmules
Going leisurely to Zermatt with a Mule for the luggage in the olden days.
Passage of the mules, Lomatten near Saas-Fee (1800m) 1972. The man in front, Christian Lorenz, is the father of Alban and Elias. He worked also as packer.
Get your comments in today on a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) plan to round up and remove almost 200 wild horses from the North Hills Herd Management Area (HMA) in Iron County, Utah. This is an area where the agencies allow a maximum of 60 horses on 74,000 acres of land (1 horse per 1,233 acres!) while authorizing over 1,000 sheep and the equivalent of 147 cow/calf pairs to graze on the same public lands. Please click below to submit your comments to oppose the roundup and support humane management of this Utah mustang herd.
Photographs taken by AWHC photographer Steve Paige of a helicopter nearly hitting wild horses and causing them to crash through barbed wire at the BLM roundup underway this week in Utah are sparking public outrage. AWHC has called for an investigation of the obvious violations of the agency’s own animal welfare policies at the roundup, which is taking place in the Bible Springs Complex and Sulphur Mountains HMA. The photos of the mistreatment of wild horses have been seen by nearly a million people on social media and are raising public awareness about the government’s cruel treatment of these federally-protected icons. Read more on our roundup coverage and complaint to the BLM by clicking below.
AWHC has teamed up with the Animal Welfare Institute to fight the BLM’s plan to conduct cruel surgical experiments on wild mares to remove their ovaries. The barbaric experiments will put wild mares at risk of “death and extreme pain” due to a risky, invasive surgery that is “brutal and risky and clearly threatening to the welfare an safety of these mares’ lives,” according to equine veterinarian Robin Kelly. Worse, most of the mares will be pregnant, and the experiment is designed to determine how many will abort their foals after undergoing the barbaric procedure. Read more by clicking below.
It’s been awhile, and Matt and I have been running like crazy.We sorted once again this morning and he has 6 of our beautiful horses in the trailer on the way to their new homes at this moment. Last week we placed 6 of the babies and have more folks coming to pick up on Monday. THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS! THANK YOU for making that possible!
DESPERATE NEED – We need to raise funds for gates, panels and a nursery building so we can keep saving the orphaned and injured foals that are currently coming off the range in mass numbers. We need funds for vetting, milk replacer, hay, munchies etc. and to keep purchasing and saving these babies, and we have to do it now!
URGENT SITUATION #1
The “Orphanage” which was operated by another rescue in WA has officially been closed and what equipment was there has been removed. This is the ONLY PLACE where the trappers can drop off severely injured or ill foals so they have a chance for immediate and urgent care. “Mama Mel” is the one who lets us live for months on end in her driveway, and it was her place the babies were dropped at when there were life threatening emergencies”. She is the one who received the orphaned foals day or night and would take care of the ones needing critical care until we could get up there. Chilly Pepper has always taken the severely injured, critically ill and newborn foals, but as of now there is no place for them to be cared for in the meantime. I received a call that there are babies coming in and we need to have a place for them now!
These babies are run up to 100 miles in 100+ degree weather, often time left in the traps for 48 hours with no food or water, can have life threatening injuries and are then left by the other rescue for up to 2 days or more before they are picked up and driven 4? hours. They are then put into a large round pen where it takes additional time (days or more) to be caught and sorted. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
We need to set up at Mel’s again, and her place will be a satellite of Chilly Pepper as we already spend months out of the year their rescuing these orphans anyway. We have more babies waiting for us (and adults too) at this moment.
MANY OF THE INJURIES ARE FROM THE BARB WIRE TRAPS. I was horrified to find out that they are not pens using barb wire fencing, it is barb wire strung through the trees and bushes where the horses cannot see it and run straight into or through it. We saw many of these injuries and they need IMMEDIATE TREATMENT! Tetanus can set in quickly, and it can be life threatening.
Thankfully MOST OF THE TRAPPERS DO NOT USE this method, but unfortunately a few do, and we saw many injuries with these last foals.
URGENT SITUATION #2
This is personal, and difficult to share, but it directly affects our rescue. It is not for pity, but just the plain truth so we can continue with our rescue. We need to raise at least $2500 for gates etc. for our place and for doing the foals in WA. I went to the Doc and found out some really horrible news about my leg. Instead of doing my 4th knee replacement and 45th plus?? something surgery, I was told there is basically no hope.
Doc said he can’t believe I am even walking on it, albeit it only sometimes. I use my crutches and my wheelchair as little as possible, but I have been ordered to wear a brace and use a cane every single day, if I want to have a chance of staying mobile. (I have seen specialists from one end of the country to the other, but I did have a tiny bit of hope that there might be some help.)
My leg feels like it will break again, just like it did before I took that fateful step and my femur snapped in half. Basically my knee and entire leg is on beyond borrowed time, so that means I need to make sure I am as safe as possible. That means putting in gates as I am not allowed to climb over panels anymore. Mama Mel was also badly injured this spring when she was climbing over a panel due to a lack of gates. If we are going to continue doing this work, we HAVE to make sure we are as careful as humanly possible.
What is really scary is that one wrong step could be the end of my leg, or it would be much worse, and with my nerve disease it could mean no prosthetic. I do this work on crutches a lot of the time, but the Doc is extremely worried about what is going to happen and would like it if I stopped doing what I have to do every day to take care of these kids.
I told him I want to ride my horse and he basically said I have nothing to lose. Apparently the danger of me getting “broken” walking is no less than falling off my horse. Of course I was feeling all sorry for myself (now I have to cut my boots because of my dumb brace), and immediately saw people who made me so ashamed. So I am going to put on my Big Girl Panties and do what we do, although very carefully, and appreciate all the blessings that God has given us.
So the choice is to stop rescuing these horses, or do it better in a much safer manner as long as I can. Something as simple as having enough money to buy gates can literally make the difference between our rescue surviving and saving more lives, or for me to end up in the hospital and my wheel chair permanently.
Sorry for the long post, but we absolutely HAVE to get the new nursery up and running immediately, and I had to be honest about the possibility of things changing at our rescue. (And y’all know I would be out there in my wheel chair LOL, but it would so not be as effective as what we do now.)
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
Wrangler has almost completely shed out and during my last weekly grooming, I discovered a small sarcoid on his left forearm and decided to consult with my veterinarian, Greg Farrand. Wrangler munched in the fanny pack while we talked.
Dr. Farrand Carefully inspected the sarcoid and determined that it was not a candidate for removal because of it’s precarious location. There was no way to grab loose skin around it like there was with prior sarcoids on other animals.
I shaved the area around the sarcoid so we could get a good look at it and so it would absorb the treatment the most efficiently.
In 2011, Rock had a sarcoid on his neck in front of the withers where there was a lot of fatty tissue and the skin was loose enough to pull the sarcoid away from the body. So, we shaved his neck and removed the sarcoid with surgery. We then had it biopsied to find it was not a serious sarcoid (Better to be safe than sorry!) and it eventually just went away. In the eighties, if we removed a sarcoid, it would have had a follow-up of injections to be completely rid of it. In the nineties, veterinarians discovered another way to treat sarcoids that involved taking a piece of the biopsied sarcoid and reintroducing it as an implant in the neck to prompt an immunity response. Before he could remove one of three sarcoids the from Lucky Three Eclipse, he rubbed one and tore it open. Before we had the chance to biopsy one of the sarcoids for an implant, as if a miracle, his immune system was stimulated by HIM, kicked in and all three sarcoids just disappeared…and no, they were not anything else.
Lucky Three Cyclonealso developed a sarcoid on his jaw which we successfully treated with surgery since it also was in a fatty area where we could pinch the skin around it easily. No follow up was necessary…just stitches removal.
Since Wrangler’s sarcoid was in such a delicate area, we opted to use a topical approach with Xterra, applied with a Q-Tip.
We will apply the Xterra once a day for a week, then stop for a week.
Then we will resume applying the Xterra for another week, stop after a week again and then see how it is progressing.
We will continue like this until it is gone. Xterra is surely a better way than the way we had to treat these in the eighties! Wrangler will be sure to keep you posted on his progress!
