Fundraising to cover the final costs of Rojo the llama, the Clark County service animal who died Wednesday morning, hit its goal on Thursday afternoon.
Rojo’s owner, Lori Gregory, and handler Shannon Joy raised $13,000 on a GoFundMe page. The crowdsourced money will cover the costs of the llama’s final veterinarian bills and pay a taxidermist to prepare his body to be displayed at the Sensory Safari at the Washington State School for the Blind.
They increased their initial estimate — Gregory and Joy had originally asked for $10,000 — to cover the cost of the base on which to mount Rojo’s body. The additional funding will also pay to cremate his remains for a memorial.
“We are so, so appreciative of all of the support from our friends, family, internet community, and the media to share Rojo’s story! We so blessed to have had a llama so well loved!” Gregory and Joy wrote on the page.
Rojo, a 17-year-old llama who’d worked as a service animal for 12 years, retired late last month. He died Wednesday at his veterinarian’s office at Oregon State University, just before he’d been scheduled to be euthanized.
