Name an animal native to South America whose ears are shaped like banana's. If you said llamas, your absolutely correct. And the Seibel family in El Cajon have rescued 10 of them.
"They're stress relievers because they're kind of funny looking. One second they look regal and the next second they just look goofy," Bob Seibel is an animal rescuer. In a neighborhood overlooking San Diego's East County he and his wife Kathleen don't only have an awesome view, they've created a peaceful, tranquil home for Wooster, Deli, Marlow, Sterling, Stormy, Webster, Bobbi, Nikki and the two eldest llamas Lewis and Freckles. The animals affectionate nature and keen intellect captured the heart of this couple from Ithaca, New York and they brought most of these cousins to the camel to San Diego seven years ago.
"We brought nine of them out here, most of them rescued from various sources, so we didn't know much about their backgrounds." Bob said. He's a professor at California Western School of Law and says taking in rescue animals is like doing pro bono work or giving back to the community. "Its easy to do, Its like I always tell my students you have to be doing something for work that you really love, otherwise you're going to be miserable." His wife Kathleen also works at Cal Western and says they both grew up without animals in their lives.
"My grandmother always had cats and dogs and assorted critters and that was always something that I aspired to and we met in law school and discovered among other mutual interests that we loved animals," Kathleen said.
The Siebel's say taking care of the llamas is no more expensive or difficult than taking care of their cats or dogs. As for spitting the only time llamas do that is when they confront each other.
