On March 14th, I was contacted on Facebook through a group called Disabled Pets Gathering. The group’s founder, Sarah Ericson, helps to make connections for disabled animals across the country to get the care they need. It is amazing to watch how quickly you can find people willing to take their time to transport these critters hundreds of miles. It is a relay of sorts. Meeting in parking lots and handing off their precious cargo to the next caretaker who is ready for their leg of the journey. Sarah reported to me that she had a 8 week old Boer goat that has a severe neurological disorder in need of immediate rescue. Originally traveling from Tennessee to Virginia, this little boy’s trip came to a halt in West Virginia when the rehabilitation center had to cancel his intake. He was now far away from his original home, with no destination for his future. Sarah and I discussed his medical history to this point.
Born December 28th, 2016 amidst freezing temperatures in central Tennessee, a mother goat gave birth away from the herd and the baby remained hidden for several hours. When he was found by the farm’s owner, Gloria, he was immediately rushed inside to bring his temperature up. Gloria stated it took 3 days to regulate his temperature and once regulated, the buckling started with intense tremors. He was taken to their veterinarian whom gave a poor prognosis in recovering to a normal, self sufficient state. His recommendation was euthanasia but was willing to try a course of antibiotics and some vitamin injections. Gloria took the medications but not the euthanasia recommendation. She knew this little goat was something special. She also knew with the amount of traveling she did that the best place for him was unfortunately not what she could provide. In making this decision, his life was saved when she vowed to find him the right place to call home.
Without much history or a strong diagnosis, my heart decided for me that this little goat was going to come live at Gratitude Gate. Sara got the transportation scheduled for 2 days later and put me in touch with Gloria. We discussed a little bit more about him but “What is this little boy’s name?”
“He is a true fighter so we Named him Rocky.”
Rocky. Such a beautiful name to me. At 16 years old I rescued my first dog, a German Shepherd abandoned at a kennel at 10 years old. We called him Rocky Raccoon and he knew nothing but love for the 3 short years I had with him.
So we prepared for our new arrival with excitement and hope that we could teach Rocky how to live his life to the fullest. We had no idea how incredibly full our own lives were about to become!