Up at 6:30 AM for a wonderful breakfast at Halona Bed & Breakfast on the Zuni Reservation. Then off to what was supposed to be a typical spay/neuter/vaccination day at the clinic. On the way to the clinic my cell phone rang. It was the Zuni Police. They said that a puppy had just been shot and the owners wanted it euthanized. So off we went to the pet owners home some 6 miles away from the clinic. Upon arrival with a University of Penn Vet student, a Manor College Vet. Tech student and another veterinarian we found the police officer having a heated talk with the owner. The owner wanted the puppy euthanized, the officer felt it could be saved. So, upon examination we established that the puppy had just superficial wounds, which we treated.…….. We saved the puppy and the officer said he would find it a home.

On the way to the clinic my cell rang again. A small piglet had just been attacked by a group of feral dogs. The dogs had jumped a 5 foot fence and caused multiple bites wounds before the piglets owner was able to chase the dogs away. The question was! Could we go to visit the piglet to see if the wounds were treatable? So, off we went to the small farm where the piglet was housed. When we arrived, it was in shock with many bite wounds all over its body. Its temperature was below normal and the piglet was unable to move. The owner had just gotten it for their children 3 days before the attack. We all decided we had to try and save it. We cleaned and flushed all the wounds, gave antibiotics and because we were unable to locate a vein we administered SQ fluids. The owner was given children’s aspirin to try to feed to the piglet to alleviate pain. We would come back twice a day for the next few days to see how it was doing and perform any treatments that were necessary. When approaching the piglet on the third day to treat the him, we noticed that he was hardly moving and breathing very slowly. It looked like all our efforts had been in vain. As we bent down to examine him, he jumped up and tried to attack us and ran all over his pen. Another thankful patient! (As a sequel to the story, we were told later in the week that the animal control officer had the feral dogs that had attacked the piglet euthanized.)

As we left the farm, I called the clinic to see if there were any more visits and to see how the clinic was running. The answer, “it was a slow day and would we be interested in visiting a sheep farm to vaccinate 150 sheep and one Llama. Why not! Off we went to the sheep farm some 20 miles outside Zuni. Upon arrival we were told that we should care for the Llama first. “Why a llama on a sheep farm”, I asked? “To keep away the Coyotes” was the answer. My next question was “Why is the Llama in a separate pen”? Answer, “It got to big and it started chasing after the sheep”. “We now keep it in a separate pen with a few Rams”. My next question was “ how about the Coyote problems?” Answer, “they seem to stay away because of the Llama”. Question: what needs to be done to the Llama? “Oh just an exam and any vaccinations he would need was the answer”. “He’s very friendly and he likes to kiss people”. From my recollection from my meeting Llamas in Peru, I new that they liked to spit and the spit did not smell like roses. So, one of the vet tech students volunteered to approach the Llama to see if indeed it was friendly and didn’t spit. (See image). Indeed it did kiss and was friendly. So with that knowledge I approached the Llama to examine it and what do you know, someone yelled “duck”! I ducked, and the spit missed my head by inches. So much for a non-spitting Llama! We vaccinated and wormed the entire flock and started back to the clinic.

We had been out of cell telephone range while at the farm. When we came into range again, there was a voice mail message asking if we could stop at a farm that they called Noah’s Ark to vaccinate and worm the animals. What were we in for now? As we drove onto the small farm, sure enough we noticed that the owner had two each of many different species of domestic animals. There were many different varieties of chickens, as well as geese, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and cats. We then noticed a strange thing in one corral. The corral housed only one horse and one cow. Why?

The owner, who knew the personality of each and every animal on the farm explained that he likes to have children visit his farm to learn all about the different animals. We treated all the animals that we had vaccine and worming agent for. We then went to the coral that housed the horse and cow. When going into the corral, I popped the question. Why only one horse and one cow?  “They were raised together from foalhood and calfhood and they are inspirable’. They are “best of friends”(see image). In fact, they were such good friends, each one prevented us from treating the other. The owner finally separated the pair and we were able to finish our visit to Noah’s Ark.

That is what a atypical, typical day is like on a typical NAVS trip.

Anyone interested in participating, sponsoring or supporting a NAVS trip should contact Kathy Nehoda at 610-390-2252