Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Lyons.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have been rescuing animals since I was a little girl. Are used to walk around my neighborhood, rescuing everything from orphaned bunnies to lizards to even the occasional mouse. Initially I had a dream of becoming a veterinarian, and even had the privilege of assisting my veterinarian at the time with some minor surgeries. Fast forward to 2016 and it became my New Year’s resolution to start a dog rescue where the dogs best interest was always the focused and we worked on saving the ones others couldn’t or wouldn’t. Today, we continue our mission with the dog rescue and have also added a special needs livestock sanctuary, where we taken handicapped goats, special needs cows and just about everything else you can imagine. It’s a lot of work but worth every minute!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are always struggles on the Rescue world I would say my biggest struggle is learning how to deal with the cases that as hard as you try, sometimes cannot be saved. It is very rare for us, but there have been a couple situations where the animal was simply too sick and despite all measures, we were unable to save them. We take those devastating and rare circumstances and try our best to learn from them moving forward so that we can in the long run help even more. We are proud to say that we have a 98% success rate with the animals we save.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am the founder and president of Elm animal rescue a local dog rescue and special needs livestock sanctuary. We focus on saving the ones others leave behind and specialize in more extreme medical and special needs case cases. I am proud of the incredible transformations. We have seen with some of the most severely neglected dogs we have taken in. We have no limits when it comes to saving lives. Once an animal is in our care, we will do whatever it takes to save them while keeping their best interest at heart. We have never given up on an animal due to expense or the amount of work required to help them heal and we have seen some amazing miracles happen along the way. Some of these miracles include dogs, such as Popeye the pitbull, Mercy the golden doodle, Chester a bully mix, Nash the goat and Daisy the blind angus cow!
What does success mean to you?
I define success by seeing the incredible transformations that happen with the dogs in our care, whether it’s behavioral, emotional, medical, physical. We have been privileged to be working right alongside some of the best veterinarians in the industry, saving lives that many others deemed impossible to save.
These days, you can often find me working around the house carrying a special needs puppy in a baby sling while a house goat frolicks through the living room living his best life! Seeing these beautiful souls getting their second chance at life is true success in my eyes!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elmanimalrescue.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17m6eaMHf5/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Image Credits
Crystal Lyons, photo credit
