His owner was an elderly man who was taken to a retirement/care facility, and Dino was left in the care of a neighbor. The neighbor called us and described how Dino looked, and the difficulty he was having when he ate. Farm Sanctuary agreed to take him, but when we saw the horrible condition Dino was in, we immediately took him to Cornell Veterinary Hospital to run tests.

Dino’s improper diet, most likely from the time he was young, led to a condition called Osteodystrophia Fibrosa, which left him with permanent jaw and facial deformities. This condition keeps the bones from forming properly and leaves them soft and sponge-like. With the extent of the damage to Dino’s face, we could only stop the condition from causing further deformity, but could not reverse the already-existing damage.

Because of these deformities, which make it difficult for Dino to keep food in his mouth, and a diet which consisted of rice, pasta and canned corn, he arrived at Farm Sanctuary emaciated and stunted, looking more like a baby goat than the adult that he is. Dino also had to receive blood transfusions, since he was so anemic, a condition caused by the combination of a lack of food and a large number of both internal and external parasites.

Dino stayed on a special mash for months, since his jaw was so misaligned when he arrived. He received calcium supplements for his bones, and flax seed oil for his skin, which was dry and damaged. He was bathed weekly to eliminate his external parasites, and treated for internal worms, as well. He remained in a pen in the sheep barn while he underwent treatment. He so obviously longed for the attention of the sheep and special-needs goats in the barn, stretching his head through the gate and crying when they went out onto the pastures.

Finally, after six months of intense treatments, Dino returned to Cornell to have his bones re-tested, and to see if he was ready to go out in a herd with other sheep and goats. The answer was a resounding “Yes!” Dino had gone from a mere 40 pounds to 104 pounds and his bones were finally hardened. On his first day out with our sheep and special needs goats, Dino butted heads and kicked up his legs as he ran, happy to finally have friends, and happy to be a part of a real herd.

Since Dino will always be prone to fractures, he will remain in the sheep herd with the other special-needs goats, and will live out his life here at Farm Sanctuary. If you are interested in sponsoring Dino or one of his goat or sheep friends, click here.