s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

Last Thursday I got a chance to try something I had been curious about for years- taking an alpaca to a rest home to act as a pet-therapy critter.

The backstory to this is that our friend and bellydance teacher, Beverly, was going crazy in her government job. So she quit and bought Zippity Zoo, a mobile petting zoo. She was going to a rest home in Paraparaumu last Thursday, and I asked if I could tag along with an alpaca.

I brought Hyouki (the fawn boy), and he did pretty well. He was a bit freaked out, by the surroundings, the lack of alpaca buddies (he came alone), and perhaps most of all by the little goats Beverly had with her. I stayed outside, working around the deck area. I went around the outside of the deck where the patients could reach down to pet him if they wanted too, and where if he got a bit too freaked out he could just step away from the deck and take a break. As you would expect, most of the ones who came/were brought outside were more mentally and physically capable, and they really enjoyed getting to meet and alpaca. I will have to try this again in the future. Beverly brought a ewe, two goats, chickens, guinea pigs and bunnies. All told we spent an hour with the patients, which was eough for both animals and the patients.

In other alpaca news Cindy, who lost her cria right before Christmas to a bad birth dystocia, is back from Christchurch. It is nice to see her little buzz-cut head again.