In the name of wellbeing or even survival, domestic animals, livestock and even wildlife are sometimes in need of human assistance or intervention.
Those animals are sometimes quite large, which means the humans doing the assisting must be properly equipped to handle the task. There’s an organization in Texas County that fits that description: Ashley Creek Large Animal and Wildlife Rescue and Sanctuary.
Animals taken in at Ashley Creek come from a variety of sources for a variety of reasons, and some are transported significant distances.
The operation was founded 18 years ago by Susan Seago and her long time business partner Rebecca Wilson, and is located in the Ashley Creek area east of Raymondville (close to the Dent County border a few miles from Montauk State Park) on the 600-acre property owned by Seago and her husband, Gary. Since the rescue’s inception, many species of animals have been taken in and cared for, including numerous horses and other equines – close to 50 in the past five years.
“Local veterinarians call, animal shelters call and other people call,” Seago said. “It’s a bunch of different scenarios. We’ve been doing this a lot of years and we’ve seen a lot of things.”
A Tennessee native, Seago is a former veterinary technician has been raising horses for more than 40 years, and Wilson has been in home health care for 13 years. Their pasts have provided experience to both women that has proven valuable in the present.
“Having all the facilities for our horse business gives us a leg up and takes care of all the problems that come with having a place to put a large animal,” Seago said. “And we’re here all the time taking care of our own horses and animals, and we have the knowledge because we’ve done it so long, taking in a few more isn’t really a strain.
“We’re always here taking care of animals; that’s what we do.”
“And a lot of what you do in nursing does overlap into animals,” Wilson said, “because wound care and daily care are very similar. With large animals, you’re just doing it on a larger scale.”
One of only two large animal rescues in Missouri, Ashley Creek obtained 501(C)(3) status last November, and works closely with all law enforcement agencies, the Humane Society, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and private citizens.