When UC Davis veterinary student Jessica Hodson heard her boyfriend Ryan Reed say that he and his colleagues found an injured dog at work, she sprang into action to help the pup, which was taken to a shelter.

“I instantly knew that we had to help however we could,” said Hodson.

Reed, a heavy equipment operator at the Potrero Hills Landfill in Solano County, and his co-workers couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw a dog—since named Fig—crawl out of a trash load that had just been dumped in the landfill.

 

In 2016, then 4-year-old Mustang mare Magic was one of 279 wild horses rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) following the massive Soda Fire in Idaho, which destroyed more than 279,000 acres of their critical habitat. To prevent their starvation, BLM rescued the wild horses. Between 2016 and 2019, many of the horses, including Magic, were adopted out, and others were returned to the wild when their grazing area grew back.

 

“He wasn’t doing normal dog stuff,” said Keri Sheldon about her experience in 2021 with Andy, her golden retriever/poodle mix puppy. “We noticed he was always guarded with other dogs and not playing normally. It gave us concern – he was not acting like a normal puppy.”

So, when he started whimpering after a mishap while playing, Sheldon and her partner Keith Fenech took the goldendoodle to their primary veterinarian.

“The vet took x-rays and diagnosed Andy with hip dysplasia,” Sheldon said. “I was quite upset to hear that.”

 

Spooner was an active 2-year-old Australian shepherd/poodle mix when owners Judith and Brad noticed problems with his claws in 2022. His veterinarian suspected he had symmetric lupoid onychodystrophy (SLO), a painful, immune-mediated disease that causes brittleness of the claws with abnormal growth and ultimately loss of the claw.

 

“I call them my Geriatric Club,” joked horse owner Laura Croyle, referring to her three horses – Big Chief and Little Cloud, both 20-year-old miniatures, and Dex, a 30-year-old mustang.

The three “brothers” have been herd mates for 10 years and are inseparable. So, it’s understandable when Dex and Little Cloud put up a fuss when Big Chief was taken to UC Davis for five days. The miniature gelding developed a case of colic and was writhing in pain when Laura and her husband Warren found him one morning four months ago.

 

When Lexi Parrish greeted her pet Tyler one morning this past November, she immediately knew something was wrong with her 3-year-old mixed breed rabbit. The experienced rabbit owner, having owned one before Tyler for 10 years, could tell he was in pain and needed medical attention.

After calling her primary veterinarian, she took Tyler to UC Davis right away, where he was seen by the Companion Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery Service.

 

Bella, a 4-year-old female pit bull terrier mix, was diagnosed with an infiltrative lipoma in her right shoulder area in early 2025. Owners Paul and Kristy Lewis took her to two surgeons to discuss removal of the lipoma, a benign tumor of fatty tissue. Infiltrative lipomas can invade into local structures including the surrounding muscles. On Bella, the tumor was infiltrating the muscle down to the humerus bone and was continuing to grow. This made complete surgical excision nearly impossible.

Both surgeons suggested limb amputation.

 

By the time Wednesday, a now 9-year-old female German Shepherd mix, was rescued by Steve Napolitano in 2021, she had already been placed in a kill shelter and rejected by two families, only to be diagnosed with cancer after finally finding happiness in a safe home.

After seeing multiple specialists about the oral malignant melanoma diagnosed in her right jaw, Wednesday ultimately landed at the Oncology Service at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in early 2025.

 

Two years ago, Brandon and Lisa Bacon were looking to purchase a horse for their 12-year-old son Jackson. Through their contacts as the owners of a horse supply company in Northern California, they discovered Ricky, a then 13-year-old American Quarter Horse gelding.

“Jackson has big ‘Gold Buckle’ dreams,” Lisa said. “We’re so proud of how hard he works at this, and we were thrilled to find Ricky, who was already an experienced roping horse.”

“Case of the Month” – November 2025

 

Newborn puppies will often wrestle and roughhouse with each other. More often than not, it all results in good fun. But one such incident with 6-week-old Kailana indicated to her owners John Hartmire and spouse Christine Pobanz-Stelter that there could be something seriously wrong with their golden retriever.