24 Feb 2023
Meet Dahlia, HSVC's Newest Barn Resident
By Amy King
Meet Dahlia, a spunky mule that has been residing at the HSVC since mid-January. Dahlia was brought to the shelter by Humane Officers after they responded to a complaint regarding a 6-year-old female mule with severely overgrown hooves in unincorporated Ventura County. Upon arrival at the property, our Officers saw the mule had “slipper foot”, a common condition in which an animal's hooves resembled elf shoes. The mule had approximately 6-8 inches of overgrowth on each foot (pictured left). After working with Officer Utter, the owner made the decision that it was in the animal’s best interest to be surrendered to the shelter for proper care. In mid-January, a team including Humane Investigations Director King, Humane Officer Utter, Humane Officer-in-training Derringer, Humane Officer-in-training Gonzalez, and Equine Specialist Christina Malleck drove to the location with an HSVC truck and stock trailer to bring Dahlia back to the shelter. She is not very socialized, so the staff had to pull the trailer right up to the gate and work carefully to secure the mule. The mini mule, later named Dahlia by Officer Utter, was loaded into the trailer safely and was transported back to the shelter.
