As they drove across California, the Scott family carried an unconventional passenger: Max the Alpaca. This road trip was the culmination of many months of campaigning, based around a GoFundMe set up in order to treat Max’s infected joints. After reaching a specialized camelid veterinarian, junior Sylva Scott anxiously led Max over to his appointment, and the surgery procedure proceeded. Unfortunately, Max didn’t make it, but the memories Scott shared with Max empowered her to care for animals with all her heart.
Ever since she was 11 years old, Scott has routinely swept, fed and groomed her pet alpacas for the organization 4-H — a nonprofit organization dedicated to leadership development in youth. With every bleat, cluck and moo heard at the pens, Scott’s love for animals gradually grew into a passion for nurturing and caring for animals.
Before her 4-H days, Scott always loved to greet neighborhood dogs in her hometown in North Carolina. She discovered her affinity for taking care of animals after numerous walks and her experiences owning a pet fish. After moving, Scott joined the Rolling Hills 4-H’s California branch at Walnut Creek in Contra Costa County, Calif., where she took her first footsteps into animal caretaking.
“I grew up in an environment where animals were very common,” Scott said. “It was originally my mom’s idea to join 4-H because she knew I loved animals a lot, and I also wanted to build that connection between animals myself.”
A few years later, the Scott family moved to San José, and Scott was inspired by her mother, who had frequently visited McClellan Ranch after school as a recreational activity, to join the McClellan Ranch branch of 4-H. Scott quickly fell in love with her very first adopted alpaca, Max, who unfortunately suffered from ruptured stifle joint ligaments in both of his back legs. For Max, the road to recovery was a long and hard-fought battle, filled with many ups and downs. Every Wednesday, Scott would go to McClellan ranch, routinely refilling his water, sweeping his pen and feeding him.
“Halfway through our ownership of Max, we noticed that he had some medical issues,” Scott said. “He had a limp, and his joints were creaking as he walked. Max’s stifle joint ligaments were misaligned.”
Acting swiftly, Scott coordinated a GoFundMe in order to fund Max’s veterinarian bills. After tirelessly campaigning, the Scott family was able to gather around $6,000 for Max’s leg surgery. The first surgery was initially successful, until about a week later when the incisions started to tear open, leaving Max susceptible to severe infection within his unsterile pen. The follow-up surgery would have cost $23,000, with the only alternative being euthanasia. Thus, the Scott family had to make the difficult decision to put Max down, considering the painful aftereffects of Max’s ailment.
“We had to make the tough decision to put Max down,” Scott said. “He lived a good life, and he was very special to my heart.”
Through a period of healing, Scott recovered from the loss of Max and took on the responsibility of caring for Zeus: her second and current alpaca. One of Zeus’s defining traits is his ever-present mud beard. When Scott was first able to adopt Zeus, he constantly rubbed his face into the mud, forcing Scott to groom, shampoo and sanitize his beard continuously.
“After Max, I begged my mom for a new one,” Scott said. “It was worth arguing with my mom. He’s kind of cuddly and really sweet.”
Aside from caring for alpacas, Scott has been heavily involved within the community at 4-H, serving as the president of the McClellan ranch committee. Along with alpacas, she is also in charge of care for a chicken and a goat, both classified as the runts of their batch. She undertook the role of Arts and Crafts leader at 4-H camp, along with organizing the Leadership Overnight event, where guest speakers were introduced to inspire 4-H youth and speak on their views of leadership. Business teacher Andrea Badger was one of the guest speakers invited.
“Sylva was always taking the initiative to communicate and follow up,” Badger said. “I’m so happy that she was able to join an organization and promote her passions, along with her exceptional leadership skills.”
Looking to the future, Scott’s ultimate dream is to go into the field of animal care; specifically, she wants to be a veterinarian, helping animals and their owners.
“Sylva’s journey inspires me,” junior Lex Huang said. “It’s the small moments interacting with her, when she says things like ‘my own alpaca bit me the other day,’ where I feel that I can picture these moments in my head and feel the warm interactions.”
