Local zebra 'Zebiscuit' is Arkansas' Pet of the Year

Local animal rescuer Janice Wolf and Zebiscuit, a zebra, are to be honored at the Arkansas Veterinary Medical Association's winter meeting where the equine is to be named Arkansas' Pet of the Year.

Veterinarian Dr. Amanda Wallace said she took pictures of the zebra and submitted an application for Pet of the Year. A spokesperson for the veterinarian's group told her Tuesday that Zebiscuit was the winning pet.

Wallace works for All Creatures Veterinary Hospital, where Wolf said she gets help for her animals when needed. But Wolf, with a background as a veterinary technician, often performs medical miracles of her own for the animals at Rocky Ridge Rescue.

Near Gassville, Wolf's Rocky Ridge Refuge is home to Lurch, a Watusi bull whose 38-inch-circumference horns are recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records, as well as sheep, cattle, a water buffalo, dogs, cats, deer, a llama and more. Wolf takes in animals, many of which have suffered neglect or abuse, and heals them over time.

"I know that if I have anything that needs tender, loving care to call Janice and she'll take care of it for me," Wallace said.

The treatments have brought back many animals from extreme stages of discomfort and disease over the past 30 years, Wolf said. Success stories at her animal refuge include dogs cured from mange, a racehorse with broken knees that now can run again and orphaned animals of all types brought to health and happiness, as well as Pet-of-the-Year Zebiscuit.

Wolf said she got a call from a zebra farm in Missouri when Zebiscuit was three weeks old. It was not getting enough oxygen and was having seizures, she said, and the owners couldn't afford to put the money into its health that would be needed.

When Zebiscuit got to Rocky Ridge, Wolf says it was wild, but she immediately began treatments.

Soon the zebra adjusted to life at Rocky Ridge, she said.

"He was a hoot," Wolf said. "He just played and played. .. played just like a dog."

Wolf took the zebra to nursing homes for "pet therapy" when it was younger, but Zebiscuit is too big now. Still, she said, buses and vans full of seniors, children and ages in between come to Rocky Ridge to enjoy the animals.

The media tend to focus on Lurch's world-record horns, she said — Japanese TV crews have filmed the beast three times, and two magazines are about to publish stories on the Watusi — but now it's the zebra's turn.

Wolf said Rocky Ridge had about 50 carloads of visitors over Thanksgiving weekend. She doesn't mind guests, but prefers they call her at 430-5783 before coming. There is no charge to see the refuge, but donations are accepted. Those interested also may enjoy her Web site at www.rockyridgerefuge.com.

Visitors should know that they are going to an animal rescue sanctuary, not a zoo. "It's a refuge, and the animals come first," Wolf said. "It's up to the animals what they want to do and how they want to interact."