2019-06-01_Animal_Tales

AnimalTales

COURTESY OF MTN PEAKS THERAPY LLAMAS & ALPACAS (3)

E

very place our llamas

and alpacas walkinto

is filled with ‘oohs,’

and ‘ahhs,’ as wellas

giggles and expressions of joy,”

Shannon Joy tells Animal Tales.

She runs Mtn Peaks Therapy

Llamas & Alpacas in Ridgefield,

WA, with her mom, Lori Gregory.

They have three llamas, Rojo,Beni

and Smokey, and two alpacas,

Napoleon and Jean-Pierre, who

These llamas and

al pacas make the

MOST ADORABLE

Here’s Jean-Pierre,
Shannon, Beni,
Rojo, Lori and
Napoleon!

spread happiness with their

therapy work!

ON THE FARM

It all started in 2001 when Shannon

and her mom came across a

local llama show and fell in love

with the creatures. “After that,my

mother enrolled me in the youth

program 4-H to help educate

us both about the responsible

care, training and ownershipof

llamas,” Shannon explains. A

year later, Lori purchased Rojo

and after spending time with

him, she realized there was

something special about the

way he interacted with people.

Eventually, Shannon and Lori

had Rojo certified as a therapy

animal through a local animal

hospital. “We had no idea how life-

transforming doing this would be,”

Shannon smiles.