And she is a full-time horse trainer, primarily with hunters, jumpers, dressage horses, but she got her start and she still works a lot with the teenage girls, which is where your market is for horses, and teaches them Western and showmanship and English and Western writing. And then they… Read More
Did you have input as associate director to say, should we get equine?… Read More
Yes, I had a personal interest in horses. I had horses when I was in college and helped at a polo club. Two of the veterinarians from Columbus area were active in the polo cycle. So I kept a horse at their barn and then I would help exercise their… Read More
Well, I sort of fell into being the CFO along with the associate director position because our first director, Warren Thomas, didn’t like to be bothered with numbers. And so he put me in charge of the numbers. And so it was up to me to make sure that we… Read More
Did you have other groups of animals you had a personal or have a personal interest in horses?… Read More
Yes, I made it a point to try and learn as much as I could about zoos in general and travel as much as I could and have visited zoos in pretty much across the US and also in Scotland, England some of the German zoos and Mexico. I’ve been… Read More
Now, when you were associate director your responsibilities were they also the budget of the zoo and how did that come about?… Read More
During your time as associate director, did you have the opportunity to visit other zoos from Columbus or Brownsville?… Read More
Working with the animals. Yep. Always has been, always will be. That’s why I got into veterinary medicine because I really like animals like working with them and respect them for their personalities and for their physical capabilities. Most wild animals are so much more physically capable of athletic feats… Read More
So Lamada ran into the concessionary, then sat down at a bench and he’s sitting there like this. And by then I had the second bottle of saturnine and popped him and five minutes later why we were taking him back. But there are a few animals that I’ve had… Read More
And as associate director, what was the favorite part of your job?… Read More
So with got another bottle so I could shoot him again, and went to shoot him again but before they could bring the other bottle, he attacked and I tried the blank routine again, it didn’t work. He just took his hand and shoved me aside and went on by… Read More
And I’ll take that back. We were using still sanoline at that time. which was a very potent drug, but shot him with the dart. And he went over and he laid down, put his hands behind his head, propped his feet up on the lower end of the rail. Read More
And as I got within about 10 feet of him, he jumped right up and he was ready to go. And so he came running at me and I cocked the capture rifle with no dart in it and put it in his face and shot the blank powder, the… Read More
And so here again, the keepers, you get the frantic radio call, Lamada is out and what do you do?… Read More
So we had to go and try and get him in. Well, I was at the office doing associate director work and the veterinary clinics on the other side of the zoo. So I had to have the technician bring the medical bag with the capture drugs and all. Lamada… Read More
Well, the female Katanga, his mate had gotten ill and she had a protozone infection and severe diarrhea and had become dehydrated. We had to remove her and put her in the veterinary clinic where we could get fluids into her. And Lamada was there alone and didn’t like it… Read More
And I just happened to be coming around the corner in a golf cart. And she saw me and I hollered her there and said, “Rusty, what are you doing?” And she screamed and gave the big smile like they do and came running over and she took my arm… Read More
I was a friend who brought her apples. And so, yeah, I’ve had some personal things. Another time and zoo guys are always talking about animals that get out. Our big male gorilla Lamida we had on an island exhibit, which I was totally against. When you ask about Warren… Read More
So food didn’t work too much on her. So she ran outside and there was a police unit there and she walked right over and climbed in the cop car and sat down in the passenger side and the policeman on the other side immediately vacated. And he didn’t want… Read More