Over half a century in journalism I've learned everyone I meet has a story worth sharing. Tracy Boyd, our personable waitress the other evening at the popular DeVito's Restaurant north of Harrison, is a case in point.
The 48-year-old mother of a teenage son works three jobs to support them along with a sizable inventory of aged and infirm domestic animals she's rescued that would make Dr. Doolittle smile.
Tracy's 10-acre home at Green Forest, called Journey in Spirit Animal Sanctuary and Rescue, for four years has become sanctuary for a fluctuating number of older cows, donkeys, horses, dogs, turkeys, cats and rabbits, all in dire need of TLC and/or medical care.
For the most part, these animals that are at or near the end of life have lost their value to humans. In other words, Tracy provides them with a nonprofit animal hospice of sorts designed to make their final days as comfortable as possible.
"A lot of people say I'm a blessing to them," she said. "Truth is, they're a blessing to me."
Other than her waitressing job, she works for Harrison's Ben Eddings Auto Group and sells her artwork in surrounding venues.
The majority of what Tracy earns goes into the care and feeding of her menagerie. Feeding nine horses alone is expensive. Just one senior horse can run up to $350 a month, not counting medical care supplied by nearby veterinarian Dr. Anne Brenneke with the local St. Francis Vet Clinic.
Many starved horses arrive from other states after being saved from kill pens. Some require as many as three feedings daily. The oldest Tracy nurtures today has lived 29 years. The youngest is 6.
Then there are the routine financial and care demands of 11 rescued donkeys, three cows and the other animals. Tracy said she seeks, needs and often receives sponsors for individual animals to help meet the costs involved with keeping them all alive and thriving.
"It's extremely tough but I've been very blessed," she said. "Honestly, sometimes I don't know where the next step will come from. People do call with a contribution and I'm always trying to figure out ways to raise money for their care. What's important is simply being a servant and help to these animals. It's my purpose."
In appropriate instances, she will place certain animals with good homes. However, that's not the case with donkeys, which cost far less than horses to feed. "Donkeys are smart and very communal. They enjoy and prefer living together," she said. "To take one away from what has become its cohesive family and hope it will make it alone would be cruel."
The 1989 graduate of Harrison High School said she named her sanctuary after Journey, the cancer-stricken horse she purchased from a kill pen in Dallas. He was ready to be sent to Mexico for slaughter and human consumption.
"Journey was super thin, missing an eye and had a hernia," she explained. "A group raised the money to save him and I paid to transport him back to Green Forest."
Tracy said Journey required at least six surgeries. "He was always a good patient. He'd get in the trailer knowing where we were going." But his struggle to survive became too much and Tracy had to end his life. "Cancer spread to his nasal cavity to affect his breathing. He was suffering. It was the last loving thing to do for him."
She's also invested enormously in helping save and improve the life of her severely disabled cow named Astrid, who was born a twin. Astrid's mother stepped on her and broke the calf's leg. "The farmer tried a splint that didn't take and I overheard him in the feed store saying he'd have to put her down. I asked for her and he said just come and get her."
So Tracy squeezed Astrid into her Ford Explorer and home they drove. After two futile months of trying to heal Astrid's damaged leg, Tracy paid $1,000 for bone graft surgery. But the very next day the calf fell and broke another leg.
When the vet said it was best to put Astrid down, Tracy chose instead to purchase a leather sling and install a pulley system. She worked with the calf for months until Astrid could rise to her feet. Even today, Tracy needs technique and strength to get her upright and moving along an I-beam in the barn in order to feed her.
For this committed woman, the trials and challenges have been more than worth it. She holds out hope that more volunteers will join the teenage girls, her boyfriend Jamie, and mother Jeannie, who today help Tracy tend to the varied cast of animals. "There's no worse feeling than having to turn one in need away," she said.
She remains hopeful that one day she'll be able to purchase additional acres to accommodate more aged and disabled animals. Meanwhile, she continues to use a trailer to transport some of her assortment to another eight leased acres nearby.
You can follow this compassionate woman's efforts, with pictures, at her Facebook Page: Journey in Spirit Animal Sanctuary and Rescue.
Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.
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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.
Editorial on 01/21/2020