August 2020 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN August 2020 Page 13 Zebras Rescued from Texas Feedlot Now Call Pennsylvania Home she was around a zebra stud. Her belly is bigger than Janet’s, but I’m hoping she’s just fat,” Guido said. Can Be Aggressive Guido tried to prepare for the zebras as best she could by reaching out to zebra owners for information. “They’re a lot like horses - they need their hooves trimmed, they need their shots, they need to be wormed. Temperament wise they’re not like horses. They’re flight or fight and they are de- fiantly a fight type animal, they have an aggressive nature,” she said. Fortunately, the two zebras are not as wild as Guido feared they might be. “There’s a lot of people I was talking to who owned zebras. From what they said, I thought I was going to get killed. “I found with these two they’ve obviously been han- dled at some point in their life. Chrissy, I can go all over her, she takes treats, and I can put a halter on her. Janet is more skittish but she won’t lunge at you or try to knock you over which is a blessing. They take down lions in the wild. She could run me over and kill me if she wanted to,” she said. The zebras are adapting well and get along with all the other farm animals with the exception of Juliet, an 800 lb. hog. At this point, they are quite afraid of the pig. The zebras remain closest to their miniature horse pal, Jack. “He’s only 27 or 28 inches tall. He’s in charge. His name’s Jack so (with Janet and Chrissy) we call them Three’s Company,” Guido said. At this point they are pastured with some mini goats. “We’re working on building another pasture. Now they’re in a stall in the barn during the day so I have more time to be with them. I want to build their trust,” Guido said. “They’re obviously going to get a lot of attention just like the other animals in our care. Right now, I’m the only one handling them, but we have some experienced volunteers here who will be handling them. Right now, I’m taking it slow.” Speranza Animal Rescue depends heavily on its volun- teers and support to help cover bills, which can be close to $40,000 a month for all the animals. “I’m up for rescuing any- thing as long as it’s legal in Penn- sylvania and zebras are,” Guido said. “They’ll get to live life the way it’s supposed to be, without being hunted.” For more information or to donate, visit Speranza Animal Rescue’s Facebook page or speranzarescue.org. (Continued from page 11)