The Least of These Animal Sanctuary<\/a>, where he lived with his bonded companion, another emu named Meathead, who has a leg deformity.<\/p>\nArchie the Emu is missing after escaping his pasture at a Willis, Texas, animal sanctuary on New Year’s Eve when a neighbor’s dog spooked him. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
\u201cHis buddy that we\u2019re missing is very important to him. It\u2019s like a security blanket, and they\u2019re very bonded,\u201d said Kelly Hutson, founder of the sanctuary. \u201cThey lay together, they sleep together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hutson discovered Archie was missing early on December 31 after neighborhood dogs had breached their own fence and entered her property around 2 a.m. <\/p>\n
The incident mirrors a similar disturbance that occurred just days earlier on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually came out and saw the dogs in the pen chasing the emus,\u201d Hutson said, describing the Christmas Day incident. \u201cApparently Archie was so spooked that he jumped the fence, and we haven\u2019t been able to contain him since.\u201d<\/p>\n
Archie the Emu is missing after escaping his pasture at a Willis, Texas, animal sanctuary on New Year’s Eve when a neighbor’s dog spooked him. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
While Archie was briefly spotted on a neighbor\u2019s property, attempts to capture him were unsuccessful due to his heightened state of anxiety. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were unable to capture him. He was really freaked out,\u201d Hutson explained. \u201cNormally he comes to me and I could feed him out of my hand, but that\u2019s not happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sanctuary, which houses approximately 100 animals including chickens and ducks, specializes in caring for creatures with special needs. <\/p>\n
While Archie doesn\u2019t have any disabilities, his companion Meathead has a slipped tendon in his leg that affects his mobility.<\/p>\n
Archie the Emu is missing after escaping his pasture at a Willis, Texas, animal sanctuary on New Year’s Eve when a neighbor’s dog spooked him. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
Hutson expressed growing concern for Archie\u2019s safety in the wild. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that he won\u2019t be able to find things to eat,\u201d she said. \u201cMy problem is going to be loose animals, dogs. They\u2019re gonna chase him. After being chased for a while… it\u2019s gonna tax him and he\u2019ll probably just die eventually just from exhaustion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sanctuary founder also worries about potential human threats. <\/p>\n
\u2018\u201cThere are a lot of people out here that eat them, shoot them, and just don\u2019t want an animal on their property,\u201d Hutson said. <\/p>\n
She emphasized that Archie poses no danger to the public, describing him as \u201cvery skittish\u201d and \u201cscared of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meathead has shown signs of distress since his friend\u2019s disappearance, largely remaining hidden in his shelter. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe misses him big time,\u201d Hutson noted, adding that male emus typically form strong bonds with each other.<\/p>\n
The sanctuary operates solely on donations, with Hutson managing the facility by herself. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s asking anyone who spots Archie to call her at 713-724-2663. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WILLIS, Texas \u2013 Archie the missing emu in Willis has been found. His owner says she got a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15429,48990,251,27,29,28,48989,48987,48988],"class_list":{"0":"post-109374","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-animal","9":"tag-emu","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-headlines","13":"tag-texas-news","14":"tag-the-least-of-these-animal-sanctuary","15":"tag-walker-county","16":"tag-willis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}