MCGREGOR, Texas (KWTX) – A McGregor rescue is now asking the community for help after taking in a severely malnourished ringtail lemur with several broken bones.
The lemur, named Soa, is just 1 year old. Ringtail Ranch Lemur Rescue Director Jeanna Treider said the organization has more than 80 lemurs, and 95% of them were surrendered or rescued.
Rescue says lemurs often surrendered
According to Treider, it is legal to own a lemur in Texas, but the biggest mistake people make is not researching the animals before buying one.
“People get them teeny tiny, they’re the cutest thing, you can’t imagine their razor sharp teeth when they’re full grown and just out of the blue they’ll flip a switch and attack,” Treider explained.
She says what most people don’t realize is that lemurs taken from their parents too soon become aggressive later in life.
“Every owner who has surrendered a lemur has said ‘I wish I had only known,’” Treider said.
Severely malnourished and broken bones
Treider says Soa was purchased from an unlicensed breeder or facility, her owner then selling her to someone else.
“That individual had her for less than a week and said it wasn’t working out and took her back to the previous owner,” Treider explained.
Soa’s original owner noticed something was wrong and took her to the vet, where they discovered the extent of her injuries and contacted Ringtail Ranch.
“She’s in really rough shape,” Treider said. “Broken bones, broken fingers, broken teeth.”
Soa’s injuries were severe enough that Treider says they had to consider humane euthanasia, but ultimately decided to give her a chance to fight.
“She’s one year old, she is a very strong spirit and so we will do whatever we need to do to get her on the right track,” she shared.
Soa is currently at the vet receiving around-the-clock care and has a long road ahead of her, but Treider assures that from now on she will know what it is to be safe and loved.
Treider said there is an active investigation. If you would like to help, a gofundme has been set up for Soa’s vet bills. You can also visit https://www.ringtailranch.com/ to donate.
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