ETZIKOM, Alta. – Melissa Lanz was one of those little girls who liked to adopt strays. As an adult, she decided to turn that compassion into a business.
“I have been rescuing orphans since I was about nine. I was always bringing strays into the house,” she said.
Calves, cats, lambs and llamas have all been part of her rescue menagerie.
Three years ago she started to develop her business plan for the Bitter Water Rescue Ranch as part of a high school project.
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She had heard about rescue ranches in the United States.
At those nonprofit ranches, volunteers check auctions to rescue llamas that appear to need help. The ranches find foster homes and sponsors to support the unwanted animals.
“We did some research and discovered there was no rescue ranch for llamas up here that we know of,” Lanz said.
She put the word out to veterinarians, the SPCA and Llama Canada and now has about 20 llamas under her care at her family’s farm near Etzikom in southeastern Alberta. She also raises a small flock of sheep that covers the costs of rescue and rehabilitation.
Her grandfather bought her first llama at an auction when she was about 10.
She and her mother, Christina, have since attended numerous llama conferences and training sessions to learn all they can about camelids. At one clinic, the instructor asked if she was serious about rescue. Shortly after that she received a phone call from someone who had eight young males with no buyers and no homes.
Another rescue occurred when she was looking for a stud for her small herd, and a breeder gave her a male cria for a good price along with its arthritic mother. Internet research and discussions with a veterinarian helped her develop a slow but steady treatment plan for the crippled animal.
The mother received a healthy diet of pure alfalfa that helps relieve the swelling and pain. It is kept in a warm barn in winter and has a small pen to reduce walking to feed and water. The swollen ankles will be permanent but have substantially reduced in size.
That llama turned out to be a good mother and teacher.
“I turned her out as an instructor with the babies and she teaches them how to act and behave.”
Lanz has a ready answer when asked what llamas are good for. Besides providing fibre suitable for spinning, they are good companion animals and can be trained to carry packs for those interested in hiking the back country.
On her family farm, they work mostly as guard animals for cattle and sheep. Three llamas are placed with the 90 head cow herd. Two circle the herd and one stays with the cattle to keep away coyotes and other predators.
Lanz’s parents, Garnet and Christina, also use the llamas to guard calves in their feedlot as well as watch over the bulls.
Part of Lanz’s willingness and patience to work with needy animals comes from her own health problems, which she has treated with alternative remedies for pain relief. She contracted mononucleosis when she was seven and suffered a series of health setbacks as a child. She now suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and takes a cocktail of herbal medicines to keep up her strength.
Christina estimated there are about 60,000 llamas in Canada, but not all are registered as purebred. When BSE closed borders to all ruminants in 2003, the llama industry was hard hit because no breeding stock or show animals could move between Canada and the United States. As well, the early breeders’ market, where llamas were sold for thousands of dollars, soon disappeared.
Other people bought llamas as novelty pets and did not know how to care for them.
“We don’t know how many are out there and just floating from owner to owner or being shot because nobody knows what to do with them,” Christina said.
The Lanzes are not worried about large breeders who know how to care for these animals. They worry about people who buy a llama, place it on an acreage and forget about it.
“They are breeding them for a specific purpose but there are people who are breeding them just so they can have a cria because it looks so cute,” Christina said.
Added her daughter: “Then the cria grows up and you have a problem and it spits at you.”
Llamas are herd animals that need companions and must be gently handled so they don’t fear people or develop behavioural problems and become aggressive.
Llamas that arrive at the Lanz farm are evaluated to see how they adapt to new situations. Currently, a male is kept in a large pen by itself, but it can see the other animals The Lanzes suspect it was abused because of aggressive tendencies.
“It is very emotional to deal with something that has been abused,” Christina said.
It takes a long time to repair the problem, especially because they don’t know what went wrong.
The Lanzes advise people interested in buying a llama to check with other owners and investigate how these animals should be handled.
To further support the rescue effort, Melissa is forming a sponsorship program similar to that offered for children’s international aid programs or support for zoo animals. People could pay $1 a day to sponsor the animal and receive pictures and updates on its progress and life on the farm. This would cover the cost of feed and maintenance.
Melissa also attends various shows and fairs to educate people about llamas and the gentle care of farm animals.
