A moving story that overflows with compassion and kindness by Annette Fisher, executive director at Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary in Ravenna.
Just yesterday, I was on my way out the door to an11:00 am meeting at Happy Trails to greet a potential new board member and give her a tour of the sanctuary. As I was getting ready to leave for the meeting, my phone rang and I receive a worried call from a neighbor who lived just down the street from Happy Trails. Deb is a horsey foster mom for Happy Trails as well as having adopted a gentle old soul about ten years ago — a big, chestnut, senior citizen gelding that we had named Grandpa Walton. He came to Happy Trails as a starvation case — emaciated, severely dehydrated and in need of medical care and groceries. Not only did Grandpa survive, he thrived.
Deb and her family adopted him, and throughout the last ten years, Grandpa Walton was a very important furry family member for the Robinson family. He would stand politely and allowed the small grandkids to sit up high on his back and hug him around his neck. He was a great babysitter for the recovering foster horses that would arrive at Deb’s barn from Happy Trails. He was always gentle and kind.
This year Grandpa Walton turned 34 years old. For those of you who might not be familiar with horses, that’s pretty darned old for a horse. The normal life span of a horse can be up to their late twenties if all goes right. Not a lot of them make it into their thirties. Grandpa Walton was as healthy as he could possibly be for a thirty-plus year old guy. He had a calcified knee, some arthritis issues, and he was a bit of a picky eater. He would spit out even his favorite apples if he suspected there was a piece of medicine hidden in that juicy slice somewhere.
I could tell by Deb’s voice when I answered the phone that something was not good. “Grandpa went down out in the pasture,” she said. “He can’t get up and he’s been down for about an hour and a half.”
Living in Northeast Ohio, our weather changes constantly. Though it was not horribly cold that morning, you could actually feel the temperatures dropping by the minute and bad weather was on the horizon. On my way to her house, calls were made to other Happy Trails folks to ask for help, and as always, they did not disappoint. Within a short amount of time, six people arrived to attempt to help Grandpa Walton stand up and to offer support for Deb.
If you have a beloved pet, you know how scary it is when something is wrong and you don’t know how to help them, or if they even can be helped. We try to be there for the people as well as for the animals, bringing peace and healing to each situation.
Grandpa gave a half-hearted attempt once or twice to stand, but he made it clear to us that he did not have it in him to do so. We rolled him up on his side and tucked blankets underneath him so he wouldn’t be laying on the cold ground. We covered him with new, soft “pig blankets,” regular people blankets that are donated to Happy Trails that we usually use for the pot belly pigs. And then we covered those blankets with heavy horse blankets and placed soft pillows under his head. By massaging his legs and neck and back, he finally quit shaking as we promoted blood flow, giving some additional heat for his body. I gave him a shot of Banamine, an anti-inflammatory and pain medication, to help ease his discomfort.
And then it started to rain. Tarps were quickly pulled over the horse blankets to keep Grandpa from becoming soaking wet. We had a call in to the vet and were awaiting his arrival. The temperatures continued to drop and sprinkles of rain started to come down gradually at first. Our staff member, Ashley Ehmann, headed back to Happy Trails and brought us a canopy tent to put over the horse and the people who were working with him. By the time she got back, it was raining steadily. The tent was our saving grace, and we were able to give both the people as well as the horse protection from the weather.
While waiting for the vet, Grandpa Walton had a seizure. His eyes rolled back in his head and he was twitching uncontrollably. The seizure lasted about five minutes. When the vet arrived, we talked through the situation realistically with him. Grandpa did not appear to have the strength to stand up on his own. The pasture was muddy, as all pastures are this time of year here in Northeast Ohio, making his struggle even that much more difficult. Grandpa had a bum knee and arthritis which made it difficult for him to stand up on a good day. We weren’t sure what the seizure was all about. His body temperature had dropped considerably, though the horse was dry and felt toasty warm to our touch under all the blankets. When encouraged, he did not appear interested or capable of moving. The look on his face told us that he was tired and that he was ready to move on.
During this stage of helping an animal, we always talk about euthanasia and ask each person to share their views on the situation at hand. Everyone was in agreement that we did not want Grandpa Walton to continue to suffer. If we were to try to stand him up, then what? What if we put him through another attempt, only to find out that he would be unable to stand, which was most likely going to be the outcome. What if he injured himself even further trying to stand up and, in the struggle, would fall very hard down onto the ground? What if in the mud, he were to fall over on to the people trying to help him and someone were to be seriously injured? All these are questions that we have to take into consideration when considering continuing to try to save a large animal vs. euthanizing that animal.
After a thorough discussion with the vet and with Deb, it was agreed that to let Grandpa Walton go would be in his best interest. With sad hearts, we took turns saying our good-byes and gave him hugs and kisses and pets on his head. A tranquilizer was given to him first to help him drift off into sleep and then the euthanasia drug was administered.
I imagined for him a beautiful green meadow for him where he could run and play. I pictured his horsey friends who crossed the Rainbow Bridge before him, excitedly running up to meet him. We all sent him good energy and love and assured him that he was going to continue his journey to a place where he would have no more pain and would be healthy and whole once again.
Though this was not a new “rescue” situation, it was friends helping friends, and it was a good example of what we at Happy Trails do regularly. Within a very short time, a team assembled to help an animal in distress. Everything possible was done to make the animal comfortable and safe. A vet was called for professional medical assistance. And as always, hard decisions were thought through and tough calls always have to be made. This is our daily work.
Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary, Inc.
330-296-5914
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