SCOTTSDALE - Trapper appears to have a doggy version of Alzheimer's disease.
Sometimes the ancient pooch stares blankly at a wall or a door.
Or he barks for a treat and gets it, but keeps on barking because he forgets he has it.
At the Circle L Ranch, the Prescott Valley refuge where Trapper lives, that is OK.
The 40-acre sanctuary harbors 70 horses, 25 dogs, 40 goats and assorted cows, sheep, cats, chickens and turkeys, each of which was rescued from a tight spot. Some escaped the slaughterhouse or euthanasia; others were turned in by owners who couldn't keep them.
Some of the Old MacDonald menagerie are up for adoption, but others are either too old, like Trapper, or too flawed to attract a new owner.
A Sunday fundraiser at a Scottsdale arts center will benefit them and offer the community a chance to adopt a puppy, kitten or horse and at least meet some horses, cows, goats and chickens.
Funds raised at the Cattle Track Art Colony will pay for medical care, ranch operations and construction of sun shades for grazing animals on the ranch's treeless acreage.
Major costs, such as feed, staff and the mortgage for the ranch, are covered by founder Dr. Deborah Wilson, a Scottsdale gynecologist.
Wilson and her husband Steve, a former Arizona Republic columnist, bought the ranch in 2006 and moved in with 12 horses rescued from slaughter and 16 dogs claimed from the Flagstaff Humane Society.
How they started saving animals
The Wilson's started down the animal protection path in Flagstaff by taking in dogs marked for euthanasia at the dog pound.
Horses entered the picture in 2005 when Deborah Wilson got an e-mail about Premarin mares and foals being auctioned for slaughter. A controversial women's hormone treatment, Premarin is made from the urine of pregnant mares that typically are slaughtered for meat consumed in Europe and Asia.
Wilson joined other animal rights advocates and started buying the horses to save them. Soon she was paying a hefty tab at a boarding stable in New River. And Flagstaff neighbors were accusing the Wilson's of running a kennel on their three-acre lot.
Circle L, a circle of love and life
Acting fast, they rented 10 acres in Prescott Valley and later purchased the 10-acre ranch across the street, naming it Circle L for the circle of love and life they hoped to complete for their animals. Ranch manager Cheryl Caldararo was hired, so Wilson could continue to see patients in Scottsdale. Her husband is communications director for the Arizona Attorney General.
"Once you've opened your eyes to this need, you can't open them again without doing something," Wilson said.
Most the animals have been abused or neglected. Litters of puppies have been found at Tonto National Forest; a recent pack was found discarded in a landfill.
"Sometimes, an owner calls and says, 'If no one takes this horse, I'm going to shoot him,' " Caldararo said.
The animals find the ranch in a variety of ways.
• Rudy, a shepard mix, was removed with 32 cats from a home where the floor was paved with layers of animal feces.
• A blind blue healer mix named Little Girl was found wandering on Interstate 17.
• Wilson bought two horses and a colt at auction for 80 cents a pound - a rate that corresponded to their meat market value.
• A bunch of goats came from Cave Creek when their aged owner could no longer care for them. A goat named Gertie showed up with a mangled ear after coyotes broke into her California shelter.
• Two cows were saved by Buddhists in Gilbert who borrowed them from a dairy for a ceremony. The next step for the pair would be death, so the concerned Buddhists contacted Wilson; she bought them from the dairy.
Animals that come to the Circle L are given a medical once over, treated if necessary and assigned to their place in the hierarchy. Cows enjoy the rented ten acres and horses graze on the other pasturage and corrals. The 20 old sanctuary dogs amble around like inmates of an assisted living center. The few younger ones chase around, even though some are blind or otherwise impaired. At night they sleep in the ranch house, where comfy dog beds are scattered everywhere, including the bedroom where the Wilson's sleep when they are there.
Across the road, romp the 15 dogs that are up for adoption, their pristine kennels in the garage and a barn. Across the road on Monday, Henry the sheep was having a bad day.
A rarity at Circle L, Henry is a perfect speciman, a blue ribbon winner at the Arizona State Fair. His owner, the girl who raised him, hesitated to sell him for slaughter, the traditional fate of prize-winners. She called Circle L, and Wilson bought him.
The recently shorn Henry was scratching around near the goats. He was desolate, Wilson explained, because his aged sheep friend Tiffany died the day before.
"What to do with Henry," Wilson pondered aloud.
In a few minutes, the renderer would come and collect Tiffany's carcass, a dark sign of victory for the animals at Circle L: Few farm animals survive to old age and a natural death.
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God bless them.
12/02
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