Bollinger County Stray Project

Report for Jan. 29 to Feb. 4

I received a call two weeks ago from a gentleman who had donated a down goat to us for the dogs last year. That buck broke his leg in half at the knee.

The call was to ask if I had room for a whole, 5-year-old cow that slipped on ice. I said yes, hoping that I had enough room for the whole cow.

Scrambling, I called some raw-feeder friends, and all of them had full freezers or could not help because it was a Tuesday, not a weekend when they had off. So, I braced myself for a tough few days to follow, knowing it might take this senior with arthritis seven to nine days to do all the skinning, gutting, cutting meat off the bone, and also sawing bone to fit the 18-quart roaster to make bone broth as I was working up the meat.

I ended up using everything but the head, hide, bottom section of the legs, guts and half of the stomach. This cow took me nine days to finish grinding and packaging. She had filled four 70-quart coolers packed in ice that I had to process.

She was a beautiful cow with an amazing large hip and muscled shoulders. She was also layered in beautiful, yellow, omega 3 quality fat. She was carrying a beautiful bull calf about three weeks from being born.

I felt so bad for the cow and rancher. She was a huge loss to his breeding line.

When she slipped, she straddled with her hind legs stretched behind her, breaking a hock off and ripping the muscle. There was also an unusual injury to her back about 8 inches from the tail. Her muscles were literately ripped apart in all directions, leaving a large hole in her spine area, yet the spine was not broken or cracked that I could tell. The cow really suffered, and the bruises on all four legs showed how hard she had hit the ground.

If she had been taken to a butcher for human consumption, there would have been a great deal of wasted meat. For the dogs, it was a blessing. Our "dog freezers" were so low on meat. Now all four of them are packed. I have enough food for them that I added two more 24-pound dogs on raw.

Our trapper friend, Don Calhoun from Zalma, is also busy catching beaver, another super meat with great omega 3 and an extraordinary variety meat.

I would not go through all this work for the dogs if I did not see amazing health benefits for those eating a raw diet. I also feel good about offering a rancher some money from a downed animal instead of it going to waste.

Dogs held for other rescues:

• Four Aussie-type mixed pups, abandoned in Bollinger County, are about 11 weeks old.

Returned to owner, placed in other rescues, foster or adopted:

• That same pit-mix pup, found in Arab, returned to the business. I called the owner and got him home again.
• Pregnant female here for three weeks went to an Illinois rescue.

Dogs with erlichia, special needs or euthanized:

• None.

Lost and found animals in area:

• Several dogs that are found or missing are listed on our Facebook page and also the two Bollinger County "What's Happening" pages. Don't have FB? Then call us so we can try to match lost pets.

Miscellaneous and contact info:

We were caring for 23 dogs and pups at our home Feb. 4. If you have a stray camping out in the yard, don't wait. Call us at (573) 722-3035 or (573) 321-0050.

MARILYN NEVILLE is director of Bollinger County Stray Project.