Oftentimes, farm animals kept as pets end up needing new homes or medical attention due to owners’ lack of knowledge (oakydoakfarm.org). Local community member Julie Hilton saw the need to help farm animals and founded Hoofprints– a nonprofit organization that rescues animals from different scenarios like abandonment and deceased owners– in 2021. If veterinarians and Hilton deem an animal medically cleared and sound to be rehomed, the animal can be adopted out of the organization.
Hilton’s goal is to help as many animals as the organization can. Animals that are rehomed open up space for future animals in need.
Hilton also uses her organization to provide a safe place for kids and adults to be introduced to animals.
Hilton keeps a small herd of Katahdin sheep to teach children about maintaining a herd, as well as lambing (dictionary.cambridge.org).
Artemis, a goat, was one of Hoofprint’s first rescues and will remain on the ranch for the rest of her life. She has Pituitary Adenoma (a hormonal imbalance that causes a doe to act like a buck, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) that affects her utters and makes her prone to mastitis (udder inflammation caused by bacterial infections, tvmdl.tamu.edu).
Her quality of life is routinely evaluated to confirm that she is thriving. When her quality of life deteriorates, more medical intervention will be necessary to keep her sound.
Trooper was rehomed to the ranch after living a full life as a kid’s trail horse and then a teenage girl’s horse; she eventually chose to give him to the organization when she left for college. She chose to give him to Hoofprints to be cared for in his retirement, because he was 25 years old and had developed Cushing’s disease (a progressive hormonal disorder in older horses, cvm.msu.edu). He also has a sunken eye (caused by deepening of the supraorbital fossa) that resulted in loss of vision.
“He is great for teaching kids about respecting an animal’s space and learning what [horses] can and can’t see while [people are] moving around them,” Hilton said.
Percy, aka Hot Pursuit, is a pony that was caught running down a freeway near King City. He is wary of people, but once he warms up, he is loving and affectionate. Since he is only 9 years old, Hilton wants to find a horse-savvy home for him.
There are other animals currently housed at Hoofprints’s ranch, including chickens, Muscovy ducks, a Sulcata tortoise, and a donkey named Taco.
“Taco loves to have his head held; he’ll just sit there with his head in your lap and just breathe with you, [the ranch] is definitely a good place for healing,” Hilton said.
At the center of it all is Kheta, a livestock guardian dog. Her Anatolian and Akbash breeding makes her affectionate and protective of her livestock and the kids that come to the ranch to connect with the animals.
“With anyone who comes out to [the ranch], [the] dog just loves on them and a lot of them just stop with her,” Hilton said. “They’ll just sit on the picnic table and let the dog love on them.”
Hilton is looking to expand the organization in the next couple of years to host more classes and have more community outreach.
They have previously done community events like pony painting parties, kids camps, and even a recent event held at Avila Valley Barn where they brought a bottle kid (baby goat) and a bottle lamb to Avila Valley Barn to allow people to feed and pet on Valentine’s Day.
College-aged boys waited in line for half an hour to feed the babies, as well as single moms and people who were grieving.
“I was really surprised at the variety of people that just wanted to hold a baby lamb,” Hilton said.
Volunteers at Hoofprints are needed and encouraged. High school students have the opportunity to earn community service hours by volunteering, as well. To apply to volunteer visit: @hoofprints.ca on Instagram or contact Julie Hilton at: [email protected].
