Now for a tale of the two geese — one with one wing and another with one eye — but, it’s not a nursery rhyme. Instead, it’s a local story about a successful animal rescue that shines light on the problem of pet dumping in parks here in Las Vegas.
A goose named Stewart is the newest addition to the flock at Tender Loving Coops, a nonprofit ran by Wendy Cooke.
"He's still getting used to us, he's new," Cooke said, "but he was in rough shape when he came to us."
Stewart was found at Lorenzi Park a few weeks ago, and his inability to fly and white coat indicated that he was a domestic breed. Plus he stood out — he had a large tumor on his right wing that turned out to be cancerous. A trip to the veterinarian at Lone Mountain Animal Hospital and Cooke learned that the wing would need to be amputated. However, Stewart was experiencing anemia, and he needed a blood transfusion from a donor, to make it through the surgery.
“I was like how are we going to find a goose? You know, I don’t know anyone with a goose?” Cooke said.
Fortunately, the veterinarian staff at the animal hospital called up another rescue in town — Raise the Bar-N Foundation — and indeed, they had a goose that could be Stewart's donor.
“She asked me if i would be willing to help a goose in need," Kerry Quinney, who runs the foundation, told Channel 13, "so we were down there within 30 minutes with Ray Ray."
"It's just really meaningful that he can do so much with his little life," Quinney continued.
Ray Ray was one of the original rescues at Raise the Barn-N, rescued by Quinney nearly 12 years ago.
“So we wanted to rescue because people were dumping geese in Tule Springs Park, and domestic geese can’t fly, so we just made it our mission to save them, rescue them.”
Now, Quinney helps chickens, ducks, pigs, cats, dogs, tortoises and more get re-homed and rehabilitated.
Both Quinney and Cooke agree, that pet dumping at parks is a big problem in the valley especially when it comes to waterfowl birds.
“If you go to any park here, Lorenzi Park, Sunset park, Desert Shores, I mean they’re just dumped constantly," Cooke said. “You know, they don’t deserve it, they don’t deserve to be just dumped like they’re trash."
Cooke is raising money to pay for the veterinarian needs during Stewart's recovery - click here if you're interested in the GoFundMe status covering surgery, bloodwork, and xrays.
