Residents | Sanctuary
Kids > Dorie
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Dorie's new friend, Rosy
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Dorie, Snowflake & Gizmo
eating
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Dorie with attitude
Photo credit: Molly Wald |
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Sheba & Dorie in shavings pond
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Dorie: The Clown
Dorie had a really rough beginning; how she’s kept her sense
of humor is amazing. Dorie is a goat that was born with broken
back legs and her legs and ears froze in the cold Utah spring.
Her back legs were amputated just below the hock joint (what we
might think of as the knee) and the frostbite on the tips of her
ears was also cut away; welcome to the world.
Then she was put back in with the herd. It was a miracle that
she survived at all. In order to take the pressure off her sore
stubs in the back she learned to throw her back legs in the air
and walk on her front legs (same as if we were doing a walking
handstand); or she’d lift herself up from a sitting position
with her front legs and just pick up her whole body and walk.
It was hilarious, and sad to see, all at the same time. What
was worse, however, was that she was going to be shot since she would
not command a large fee at auction. After all she’d been
through; Dorie deserved a shot at life, not a shot in the head;
so she came to live at Healing HEART Sanctuary. Since then she’s
been a constant source for laughter.
She was named Dorie after the Ellen DeGeneres character in “Finding
Nemo”. Being really goofy and having what Executive
Director Laura Bradshaw thought were short term memory
issues early on, the name fit her perfectly.
Sheba initially wanted nothing
to do with her but Dorie never even noticed. She just kept on
acting as if they were best buddies until they were. Head-butting hour was the best time of day around here as Dorie would get all wound up and then (Blam!) slam in to Sheba. Sheba could always hold her own and could have stopped playing when she wished.
Sadly, Dorie’s ability to walk on her front legs or pick
her whole body up and move around changed when she started gaining
weight…and then more weight…and then we realized
she was pregnant. She had two perfect baby girls that she doted
over. Sheba,
her roommate and the Queen, wasn’t
so fond of the kids as they liked to play queen of the mountain
on top of “The Queen”.
Dorie’s best therapies have included dressing wounds on her stubs, if they appear, and being with her BFF (Best Friend Forever) Sheba. Dorie has always stated in no uncertain terms that Sheba is the only therapy she needs. Mostly we listened…and then…we laughed. And as life goes and especially at a sanctuary for animals with disabilities, with the passing of Sheba on Christmas 2008, a new therapy program for Dorie will be created; so that we’ll all learn to laugh again.
Update: After 6 long months of searching we finally found a companion for Dorie. Her name is Rosy and she's an incredibly small pygmy goat that was thought to have Midgetism, being that she was the size of a 3 month old at 3 years old, AND thought to be 4 out of 5 months pregnant. Her little body would not be able to carry a normal sized kid, let alone two (twins are common). We dropped everything and ran to Michigan to get her. Luckily, she had gas and not babies and she and Dorie have been the best of friends ever since. Also ends up that Rosy was "failing to thrive" instead of having Midgetism as she has grown since she's been here. Dorie had to modify the way she head-butts Rosy to compensate for the size difference but they figured it out. Dorie is so gentle with Rosy and Rosy is fiercely protective of her best friend Dorie.
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