CityView Magazine

42 | April 2016 Mae Horse Rescue is constantly taking in starved horses. With the help of do- nations and volunteers, Gillis and her team works with the horses to rehabili- tate them and get them back to health. e team show these horses the love and care the horses have lacked their entire lives and give them a miracle in return – a forever home. Gillis shared a story of one of her miracles,"Dixie Mae was a starvation case. She was skinny. She was just skin and bones. She came from an auction and we treated her at the rescue. Soon enough, she was adopted and now an 11-year-old girl owns her and she's an eventer and a jumping horse!" is is one of the many success stories Gillis had to share of her incredible work. e Leilani Mae Horse Rescue would be struggling to care for these horses if it weren't for their dedicated volunteers. Two of their special volunteers include Dr. Brian Garrett (DVM) of the Ani- mal Hospital of Fayetteville, along with his wife Taryn. Luckily for Gillis, this couple lives down the road from the rescue and always goes above and be- yond to help care for the horses. ey donate their time, expertise and most importantly love to help save these once neglected horses. Gillis elaborated, "We took in a colt that was inevitably go- ing to die. I had no place for a baby and Taryn kept the colt in her barn and she took care of it. e colt wouldn't have survived without her." A volunteer on site, sticking some "green goo" on an open wound of a horse, was a veterinar- ian student at Methodist. Mary Prapp (Methodist '17) explained how she got involved, "My friend introduced me and once I came out I fell in love. ey bring you right into the family here. Since I'm studying to be a veterinar- ian, specifically with large animals, this gives me so many hands-on opportuni- ties like meeting Dr. Garrett and seeing him work on the horses. I get to deal with open wounds so it gives me the ex- periences I need for vet school!" Before one adopts a horse, they need to learn the reality of caring for these animals first. e adoption process is lengthy, as it should be. Gillis does not want her horses to get stuck in the cy- cle of abuse and neglect. She elaborated, "Potential adopters will fill out an appli- cation with questions such as: 'Can you afford this horse? What are you using it for? Where will it stay? Our adoption contract comes with major require- ments: a three-sided shelter, no barbed SHEREFE.NET (910) 630.3040 ON-SITE AND OFF-SITE CATERING OPTIONS OPEN FOR LUNCH AND DINNER IN HISTORIC DOWNTOWN FAYETTEVILLE CELEBRATE GOOD FOOD AND GOOD COMPANY GYROS SCALLOPS LAMB CHOPS NORWEIGAN SALMON -AND MUCH MORE! Casanova runs free

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