Let a Llama Take Your Troubles Away

Dani, 15 years old, walks into the library of Serendipity Center in Portland, Oregon. Quiet and reserved, her face lights up when she sees the visitors waiting for her: “It makes me feel like they are my friends,” Dani says. “I would always talk to them, and it would make me really happy.” Dani’s visitors are actually two therapy animals. Soft, fluffy, gentle, tolerant — these two aren’t your usual therapy dogs, which help people cope with mental health. In fact, they aren’t dogs at all. Rojo the llama and Napoleon the alpaca are changing the face of therapy animals in the Pacific Northwest. “Everybody just needs a little happiness and joy in unexpected places,” said Lori Gregory. A few hours earlier, she and her daughter Shannon were walking Rojo and Napoleon through downtown Portland. It was quite the spectacle. Even in this city, known for having a quirky personality, this group drew a crowd. Photos, hugs, selfies, and a lot of laughter — that’s what Rojo and Napoleon can do. And it’s what Lori and Shannon have been sharing with the Portland area for 8 years and counting. “We never dreamed that we’d be doing work with llamas and alpacas,” Lori said. “We came to Oregon 20 years ago, and bought 2 ½ acres. Basically, we got tired of mowing the lawn, so we went to the fair to look for some animals to keep it eaten down.” The low-maintenance llamas caught their eye. So they went llama-shopping at a local farm. A red-colored llama named Rojo — Spanish for “red” — would become their first llama.