Sept. 1 was a “crazy morning” for Tonya Stephens, of Hoof & Paw Animal Rescue, down in Naturita. Stephens said she received 37 phone calls in a matter of 45 minutes. She said most of the calls were about a cat that had lost its leg. Stephens and other volunteers at Hoof & Paw made a plan to catch the feline, discovered in Norwood, and they’d hoped to get it to the vet in Moab, who often helps with such incidents.
In the midst of the cat rescue planning, Stephens received a call about a dog, who was in terrible shape. Found near the church on the outskirts of Naturita, it was “a skeleton,” according to Stephens.
She was glad that Cliff Allred was walking shelter dogs that morning, and that sense of relief helped her focus.
“I didn’t have to worry about walking them,” she said.
As she started to relax, another man called and said he’d trapped the cat. Soon, Susan Kelley, Hoof & Paw volunteer extraordinaire, went to get the Norwood cat, so it could be taken to the vet.
Next, Stephens got her hands on the dog, and whether it had been abused, neglected or simply lost was not clear, but the dog carried the stench of death. And, it was heartbreaking for all involved.
Back at the shelter in Naturita, Casey Nessan was working with the cats, thankfully. His assistance enabled Stephens to make a plan for getting the dog washed, so it could travel with the cat and get seen by the Moab vet.
That’s when the EMS call came in. Stephens, also one of the West End’s only EMTs, called her husband, one of the West End’s only other EMTs. She asked him to handle the EMS situation on scene. She said she’d transport the patient, once she got the animals settled into their travel plan.
She threw bowls of food together for the shelter dogs, and then she asked Allred to assist with feeding that day, something he doesn’t normally do, since he’s a designated walker for the dogs.
Stephens did indeed transport the EMS patient to the hospital, and the amputee cat and the skin-and-bones dog made it to the vet, traveling in the other direction.
Stephens said the morning of chaos wouldn’t have come together, if not for others. She said the volunteers are what helped get everything done. Moreover, she attributes the work to “God’s orchestration.”
She said all of the helpers showed up at just the right times, and it’s because of the people that it all got taken care of.
“And that means so much to me,” she told the Forum.
After a few days, the poor dog didn’t survive. She said it broke the vet techs’ hearts in Moab. They did all they could to save her.
Still, the volunteers kept up the outpouring of love and contributed to the dog’s vet bill. Stephens said if people were ranting online about how upset they were about the dog’s condition, that too shows that people deeply care for the animals.
Now, there’s a three-legged cat in need of a forever home. “Tres” — yes, the cat bears the name of the number “three” in Spanish — has survived losing a limb and needs a loving adoptive owner. Those interested in taking Tres should call Stephens directly.
Stephens said of Sept. 1, it was all very stressful, but the love is what made the difference.
Editor’s note: Funding for this story was provided by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, as part of its "Spreading Love Through the Media" initiative, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
