Rojo's Story
Incredibly touchable, and unusually people-friendly, Rojo is rapidly becoming recognized as somewhat of a local celebrity as he participates in local parades, and makes regular visits to schools and adult-care facilities in Portland, OR, and Vancouver ,WA.
From the day he was born on April 26th of 2002, Rojo has enjoyed being around people of all ages. His handler, Shannon Gregory, trained Rojo as a 4H Project Animal, and won Grand Champion with him at the local and state levels in the Public Relations and Handler Classes. While he was at the fair, a spectator observed Rojo's exceptionally gentle temperment, and suggested that he become certified as a therapy animal, so that he would be welcomed into various environments where his special qualities could benefit the lives of others. In July of 2007, Shannon and her mother, Lori Gregory, both completed the Animal-Assisted Therapy Training through DoveLewis in Portland, OR, and separately took Rojo through the final evaluation to become the first llama therapy teams ever certified by DoveLewis. Completion of the DoveLewis training and evaluation also automatically qualified both teams to be registered with the International Delta Society Pet Partners Program.
Rojo has made hundreds of visits to local area children's hospitals, senior communities, schools, and facilities for disabled children and adults, and other various PR and fundraising events. It has been very exciting to see the responses, and the love that is expressed for him wherever he goes. We have been given a very special gift in Rojo, and we are delighted to share him so that he might bless the lives of others!