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Seniors meet miniature horses on field trip |
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| Karina Hatch hugs a miniature horse while Alice Vandre, left, holds out a food pellet as residents of Grizzly Peak retirement community visit Judy Neely’s horse farm west of Missoula on Monday. Neely invited the residents, most of whom had never been near miniature horses. Photo by TOM BAUER/Missoulian |
By JAMIE KELLY of the Missoulian missoulian.com | Posted: Monday, August 23, 2010
They've led long lives, but have never met a short horse.
Scotty Warrick, a self-described "web-footed Oregonian" in her early 90s, held a food pellet in her hand Monday afternoon and quietly approached Ellie, sizing up the tiny mare whose ears barely topped her belt.
Somehow, Warrick had missed this experience in her near-century of living, but she got it this day, proving it's never too late to look a small horse in the mouth.
Ellie, a pretty white thing, gently scraped her lips over Scotty's outstretched palm and grabbed her snack. Chomp, chomp.
"I've never even seen one of these before," said the enchanted woman, as a dozen of her Grizzly Peak compatriots roamed through the small herd of miniature steeds, looking like giants walking the Earth. "I was so delighted when I heard about this, so I signed up."
The retirement community off North Reserve Street offers Nintendo Wii bowling, picnics and myriad other activities, but this meeting of seniors and short horses was a first.
It took place at the Pillar of Fire Arabians and Miniature Horses farm west of town off Mullan Road. Owner Judy Neely had invited them, and the bus pulled up to her wooden gate Monday.
Also a home health care provider who counts some Grizzly Peak residents as her clients, Neely knew the seniors would love to meet her not-so-thundering herd.
"They were all excited about coming here and visiting," she said.
And they were, their eyes surrounded by lines of time suddenly scrunched up by big smiles.
Laura Jean Simmons leaned over her walker, bending down just far enough to get her pellet-wielding hand to the mouth of another
happy customer.
"Oh, oh," she said as the horse lapped up its dessert. "Oh, they are so precious. Thank you. Thank you, Judy."
Thirty minutes passed, and the horses had grown accustomed to these new givers of pellets. But last call came, and a few more treats met a few more mouths.
It was time to get back to life-sized life at Grizzly Peak.
A short trip it was, but no small experience.
"I've seen them in pictures, but I've never been around them," said Karina Hatch, as she stepped aboard a bus that was parked mid-pasture. "They're simply lovely animals - lovely, lovely animals."
Reporter Jamie Kelly can be reached at 523-5254 or at
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Dog recuperating at Billings shelter after likely attack by bear |
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| Rosie, a black Lab found in Columbus, has wounds from what appears to be a bear attack. She was being cared for at the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter on Thursday. Photo by CASEY RIFFE/Billings Gazette |
By MATT HAGENGRUBER Billings Gazette missoulian.com | Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2010
BILLINGS - If only this dog could tell its story.
Rosie the black Lab loves crunchy treats and spends much of her day in a cool spot under a desk at the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter.
The young dog is also lucky to be alive after being attacked by a bear about two weeks ago, shelter officials said.
At least they think it was a bear.
The dog with shiny white teeth and a thumping tail also has gaping holes in her back and neck, and a part of her right ear is missing. Drainage tubes stick out of deep wounds, and Rosie scratches at her bad ear every few minutes.
According to shelter director Chris Anderson, a woman found the dog on Aug. 9 lying next to a stock water tank on a road south of Columbus. The woman fed the dog and waited 24 hours to see if someone came for her.
When no one did, the woman took the dog home and tried to find a veterinarian, but had no luck in the Columbus area. On Saturday, she brought the dog to the shelter, where employees decided to take her, even though she came from outside the city limits.
"I'm really glad we broke some of our own rules to help out a really nice dog," said shelter employee Allison Martin, who is fostering the dog at night.
The friendly dog was well-fed and clean, so she was probably a house dog. But with no collar, tags or microchip, there's no easy way to find her owner, said Nicole Thompson, director of operations at the shelter. They think the dog is about 3 years old.
The shelter staff doesn't know what happened to Rosie, but based on her wounds, they think she was attacked by a bear about two weeks ago. Anderson said the shelter's vet, Jean Albright, noted that the wound under Rosie's shoulder so deep enough that it probably came from something with a strong jaw that may have lifted her off the ground.
Albright shaved part of the dog's back and stitched up what she could, inserting drainage tubes in some of the wounds. Other wounds will be left open to heal, and the dog is on antibiotics. Anderson said she'd seen what mountain lions, coyotes and wolves can do to dogs and horses, and Rosie's injuries don't look much like that, she said.
The dog will be kept at the shelter to heal for now, but will likely be adopted out or returned to her original home if the owner steps up.
"She's got a rosy personality," Martin said of the dog's new name. "Even with these wounds, she was wagging her tail."
Billings Gazette reporter Matt Hagengruber can be reached at (406) 657-1261 or at
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Wiener dogs dash at PetFest in Missoula's Caras Park |
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| Taylor Foust of Missoula directs her dachshund Myra to the finish line in the “Little Smokies” category of wiener dog races during PetFest at Caras Park on Saturday afternoon. Myra won the heat. Photo by MICHAEL GALLACHER/Missoulian |
By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian missoulian.com | Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2010 9:45 pm
When Linda Baumann decided to organize a community pet festival to promote responsible ownership, her goal was to educate through entertainment.
Never did she dream she'd hit the jackpot with "wiener dog races."
At the fifth annual PetFest on Saturday, it was the dachshunds - nearly 80 of them - that stole the show and brought hundreds of people to Caras Park to show off their own animals, learn from vendors and experts how to better care for their pets, visit with shelter animals, and adopt a four-legged or feathered friend.
"The wiener dog races are just hilarious," Baumann explained. "We had 62 entries last year, and we had to put a barricade up around the race course this year because last year it got so out of control.
"Who knew there are so many wiener dogs in Missoula? And you should see them when the crowd cheers, they just go all over the place and go every which way."
Such was the case this year. Because of the giant field of entrants, the wiener dogs were separated into three categories: "Little Smokies" for dachshunds up to 3 years old, "Frankfurters" for dogs ages 3 to 6, and "Bratwursts" for dogs 6 years and older.
Kalie Bowar's 1 1/2-year-old Oscar, a miniature red brindle dachshund, was a return contestant, hoping to medal again in this year's Little Smokies competition.
"He works for food," Bowar said, explaining that she brought his favorite string cheese treat this year to motivate a blazing 40-yard dash to the finish line.
Dan Cleveland was just hoping his Chloe, a 6-year-old black and tan wiener dog, wouldn't burn up her superlative sprint as she did last year with a false start that induced bedlam among her canine competitors.
"She's really our daughter's dog," Cleveland said with a mischievous smile. "We have her now because she's (their daughter is) in the Peace Corps - but we won't give Chloe back when she returns home."
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With each successive year, PetFest grows and so does the crowd, Baumann said.
She was particularly thrilled to see people arriving emptyhanded and going home with one of the many shelter pets that had come from around western Montana to find a new home.
"The number of shelter dogs are up throughout the country because of the economy, and spaying and neutering is down because of the economy," she said. "All of these things cost money and pets are often the first victims of a bad economy."
Pet education was the event's priority, but it also provides an opportunity for people to donate food to help support local shelters and to learn more about rescue operations.
Baumann was hopeful the event would at least meet last year's generous donations, when more than 3,200 pounds of food was collected and later dispersed to local shelters. She also hoped the crowd would go home with a new appreciation for abandoned animals after talking with shelter representatives and meeting some of the animals available for adoption.
"There are wonderful animals in these facilities - and many of them are purebred," she said. "Because of the economy, we need to get the word out that people can adopt great pets from shelters."
As printed on her shirt, Vicki Scheidecker, a member of the Polson-based Lifesavers Animal Rescue, reiterated: "You don't have to save them all, just one."
As for Oscar, he came to the event with his A-game and came home with a second-place trophy.
Bowar was enormously pleased with his performance, and said she might sew him a cape - after she makes him his very own bed in the shape of a bun.
Proud of her canine's skill, she now has to carefully manage his talent.
Laughing, she said: "I'm trying to keep his amateur status."
Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at
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