Podiatrist Dr. Stephanie Parks, her husband and four children are involved in animal rescue. Stephanie believes that their children are not only rescuing animals from bad situations but through their actions they are learning about respect and relationships in the process. Animal interactions can mirror our relationships with humans. If we're able to look at their body language and respect what they're telling us, then that can translate into human connections like consent and establishing ground rules. There’s so much you can do with your actions and the way you live your life.  

there's really a lot that you can do with, your actions

and with the way you live your life

thank you so much for listening to all of these amazing

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I'm Catherine, your host for the podcast, Your Positive Imprint, the

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What's your PI.

Well, hello.

I am here with podiatrist, Dr.

Stephanie Parks.

She specializes in the treatment of complex foot and ankle conditions,

including reconstruction of the foot and ankle diabetic, limb

salvage, sports medicine, and other general podiatry treatments.

She's been married over 10 years and Stephanie and her husband have four

children and each family member is involved in animal rescue missions.

And I am so thrilled to be here on their ranch, Starlight

Ranch, Stephanie Parks hello.

I know.

Thanks for having me.

I'm excited to do this.

This is really fun.

so,

Oh, you'll enjoy this.

The podcast is fun and, but it's also inspiring.

You know, you are, you are activating your positive imprints

and you're sharing them and

and obviously you're sharing them with your four kids and

they're getting involved as well.

So as the listeners know, you are Dr.

Stephanie Parks in podiatry.

You've kind of followed your dad's footsteps, no pun

Yeah, absolutely.

This is fun.

So

Growing up I know that you were interested in other opportunities and

you turned and went about with podiatry.

So what made the turn?

Yeah, that's a good question.

So as a child, I always, you know, I thought what he did was interesting.

and I was always interested in science and medicine and different you

know, kind of, kind of the sciences.

But I was, you know, that typical kid that was like, well, I'm not ever going to be

exactly like you guys, so I wanted to make sure that I did something different.

And I'm a huge animal lover.

So for a long time I wanted to be a veterinarian and I was actually a vet

tech for probably six or seven years and, uh, worked at a couple of different

clinics and I loved that, but I decided to you know, veterinary medicine probably

wasn't ultimately what I wanted to do

long-term.

So then I started shadowing my dad and shadowing some of his

colleagues that he works with.

Through that, I got to experience a lot of different types of human

medicine and physicians, you know, different careers that they have.

I shadowed a radiologists and orthopedist and then my dad quite a bit.

I really liked podiatry in that we do a lot of different things.

,we treat a lot of different types of patients, so I can treat infants.

I can treat,

Geriatrics.

Um, I can, do sports medicine, which I like to do.

I do a lot of limb salvage, like you mentioned, which is trauma and infections.

basically.

And we do a lot of procedures, but you don't have to, so you can do surgery

or you, you know, you can be totally clinical depending on what you like to do.

So I thought that was really neat that you can really take it in a

lot of different kind of directions.

So probably not very many, pediatrists who have completely

identical practices, which is cool.

We do a lot of stuff in the office, so I do a lot of procedures in the

office, which I think is interesting.

And I like to work with my hands.

So for me, it ended up actually being a really good

fit.

And I really.

like it

Well, and I'm thrilled that you are practicing here in our community.

Because we certainly need doctors learning different surgical techniques.

And as you say, the limb salvage is, so that is something, obviously it

happens quite often in accidents but you also do diabetic limb salvage and

that's not trauma induced that's disease induced . Our population in New Mexico,

we do have a high diabetic population.

So how does that affect your practice?

Are you doing more of any one thing or is it pretty much varied?

So limb salvage is probably the thing that I do the most.

So I practice general, podiatry but my specialty is, is more

along the lines of limb salvage.

The majority of the patients who need limb salvage is not my trauma patients.

It's usually the you know, diabetic or people with vascular disease, which

isn't always diabetes, but often is.

So I, that's probably 75% of my practice.

And then 25% is kind of a mixed bag of, general podiatry, foot pain, different.

kinds of things.

We have quite a lot of it in New Mexico.

So I think most podiatrists practicing here and, and across the country

see a lot of it, but everyone has slightly varied interests.

So in order to do a lot of limb salvage, you have to be comfortable

doing wound care and you have to enjoy doing wound care.

Um, but I really like that.

I make a huge impact, which I really like.

When you help someone, you really help them, I mean, you save their leg

and often their life, which is great.

Absolutely, absolutely.

Yes.

So, you know, I have patients that, have two legs Yeah,

because we intervened early and we did something aggressive and, and it worked.

So, which is excellent.

So that's, that's really cool.

But I think the thing I like most about it is I see these patients

often and frequently, I get to know them very well and their families.

So that's really cool that you'd really get to build a relationship with

your community and you get to build a relationship with people that you, you

don't just see them once for something, fix their problem, and then they go away.

, you, really get to know them.

And a lot of them you know, I know, their kids and their grandkids

have come in with them before.

That's, the feel good side of medicine that we don't always get to have

a big, you know, as big a role as

we would like.

Well, and I'm glad you mentioned that because doctors don't

have that time to build a relationship.

And I think any more, we need that relationship, especially if it's a

serious condition or something that might affect your well, your walking

or your independence in some way.

I just feel that the doctors, especially if they're in a large

clinic, I think that that is missing.

It's a fault for not being able to reach out.

As you said, You see a patient and they don't just leave and

walk away from your practice.

And I think that's commendable on your part

I think that there's a need for maybe walking a patient through some

of the mental hardships of things and they don't know where to turn.

I mean, I think first and foremost, to have good healthcare,

you know, we have to humanize medicine and that's how it always has been.

But I think we have been increasingly reliant on technology and other things

that just have, have made it harder.

And I think doctors are having to get more creative to maintain

those touches and stuff.

So,

Yeah, I agree.

It doesn't need to be so stoic, you know?

And so thank you for that.

And so anything else about your practice that you'd like to share?

I think in general, podiatry is a really

cool, subset of medicine and it's not always super well-known.

So, um, yeah, I mean, if you're interested in a career in podiatry

or you need a podiatrist, certainly reach out and, I'm always willing

to take people who want to shadow.

I teach residents as well.

I'm just thrilled that you decided to remain here in New

Mexico and, and serve our community.

And you are not just serving the people here as a podiatrist.

You are also serving animals through an animal mission and rescue animal rescue

mission, your kids are involved.

I admire that you are being patient and bringing them on your journey

of this Goodwill towards the animal.

So let's talk about that.

Well, first let's talk about the ranch.

You have the ranch in order to help you with this animal rescue mission,

love the ranch.

Yeah.

starlight Ranch..

What made you decide to do animal rescue?

So I've always been a huge animal lover.

from my toddler years and on I've always had pets and I've always wanted

all different types of animals.

And I always did the zoo camps and I had all the zoo

books I was that kid that was.

you know, running around on the playground pretending to be an animal.

Like I was always just really into animals.

So I, I started volunteering when I was probably 15 or 16 at the

humane society here in Albuquerque.

And I ended up wanting all the dogs basically.

And at that point we only had cats and my parents were like,

oh gosh, okay, here she goes.

, oh my gosh, all these dogs don't have a home.

, what is going on?

Why are all these dogs here?

As a kid, I don't think I really understood much about what happens to

animals when they don't have homes in different places, animals end up And

how they all end up in those situations.

So I think that kind of got me interested in, in rescuing animals and then through

my work, as a veterinary technician, I would just see lots of different

situations with lots of different animals.

I maintained volunteering when I lived in Arizona.

And in different places at different humane society.

That's kinda what got me passionate about it.

Once I started volunteering, I realized what a huge need there was for

volunteers, for facilities, for funding.

And then, homes, I think homes is the big one.

We have to have homes for these animals.

I have also been riding horses since I was about six.

I used to show quarter horse and was involved in all sorts of different

horse activities growing up and.

Kind of the same thing.

I didn't realize that horses sometimes don't have homes as, as

a kid, I had my horse and that's kinda what I was exposed to was just

my world of it, my corner of that.

But when I started doing work with the humane societies, I realized oh my gosh,

there's horses that also don't have homes.

And once I got out of high school, I I didn't have the ability to have horses

again for awhile because I was in college and I moved around and I studied abroad.

But once I was able to get horses again, that got me into

large animal and horse rescue.

So my first horse back into the horse world was, from a rescue network.

And so we have kind of carried that through.

, not just with horses, but we have, rescue llamas and all kinds of different stuff.

So that's what got me interested in it is I just, I realized there was a need.

I, I think what drove me initially to volunteer when I was 15 is I

wanted to play with the puppies.

because My parents wouldn't let me have a dog I was like, well fine.

I'll go play with all these dogs.

And then That's kind of what, what started that.

And once I got there, I realized what a need there was.

So.

Yeah.

Wow.

So volunteerism inspired you.

It did.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And what time permitting as I go through different stages of life, I

do more or less volunteering depending on that, but we always do something

in some sense, either through donating or through giving time.

For medicine.

I went on medical missions.

I didn't know you went on medical

Oh, They were so cool.

Yeah.

Some of the coolest stuff I've ever done, we went to,

Antigua Guatemala, and that was really cool.

And then we went to, , Sinaloa, Mexico.

Well, we're going to have to do a second podcast

because, if you're willing.

Oh, absolutely.

Oh, great.

those were some really cool experiences.

And serving the people and that is, that's your worldwide imprint there.

Now with the animal mission, you mentioned llamas.

Yeah.

How on earth do you rescue llama and, why did it have to be rescued?

I know the poor llamas.

I did my residency in Denver and I was doing some work with dog rescue.

out there.

And the lady who owned the dog rescue lived in a little bit of

a rural area outside of Denver.

And so she had some acreage and someone dumped these two llamas on

the streets of Denver, They literally

dumped

Yeah.

This is when hay prices were starting to go up back in

maybe 2012 ish I mean, they've been going up steadily, I think people were having

trouble feeding a lot of their livestock and that's, that's been a consistent

thing over time, these big animals are just, they they eat a lot of things and

, if they have vet bills, and they're not always cheap to house and to feed.

So someone dumped these guys on the streets and there were two

of them, a male and a female.

I'm not sure if animal control called her or what, but she ended

up with these two llamas and she had the acreage to take them, but

she didn't really have livestock.

She's a dog rescue.

Hey, you, you know about livestock, you have, I had a horse at this time.

Oh, you, have, you have a horse.

Like, do you want some llamas?

And of course me who loves all animals.

I was like, absolutely.

I want some llamas,

especially they've been dumped.

I can't believe that.

Wow.

I know.

So, and I think people just, just open fences when they

can't take care of stuff.

sometimes.

We had them fixed and she, well, the male and she , she's probably pregnant.

We can't tell because llamas, I guess if she was pregnant, she was too far

along to ultrasound and get a good image and they didn't think that.

Uh, they'd be able to palpate the fetus and stuff.

So they will like probably pregnant, have no idea when that's going to happen.

So I was like, oh, okay.

So We got her home.

And two weeks later she had a baby.

Yes.

We drove her From Denver to Albuquerque.

because this was right when we were getting ready to move down here.

And we drove her from Denver to Albuquerque.

They moved down with us, the two llamas did.

And, uh, yeah, the third Lama her name is princess Emily.

the baby.

So yeah, princess Emily was born here in New Mexico.

And, uh, yeah, they've been really fun we've had them, I don't know, seven years.

They are entertaining characters.

We really enjoy having them.

They're not overly friendly because of their history, but they're halter broken.

You can handle them if you need to, but they just would rather you

didn't, but they do want to find out what you're doing at all times.

And they're very interested in the happenings of the farm and new

truck or anything new comes on.

They want to see what it is.

So they, you know, they, they come over want to look at everything and be

involved in, , peripherally, watching and seeing everything that's going on.

They Do kind of a path around the property

Wow.

So the two llamas, caught up in an urban area, Petrifying, you know,

We see it more.

We do see horses getting out or being, let out, we see just all sorts of hardship

for animals and small family farms.

Are there subsidies for the small farmers or is that why they're closing?

Do you know?

stephanie Parks:

So, , there are financial.

stephanie Parks:

benefits, Like tax credits.

stephanie Parks:

And there are, , your property taxes substantially lower

stephanie Parks:

if you have a farm income that's verifiable.

stephanie Parks:

I don't know if there's different subsidies.

stephanie Parks:

We produce milk and honey, but not, um, crops or anything like that.

stephanie Parks:

So we haven't Done anything aside from the tax credits with ours, the

stephanie Parks:

tax, the property tax credit is pretty.

It is substantial.

Yeah.

And I think that's part of the issue that comes in with large animals and

people not realizing that larger animals need rescue like small animals do,

but also horses, for example, they're not necessarily a farm expense unless

they are used, to plow a field, which is not the most common use

for horses these days.

So you can't really justify them as, a farm related expense in a lot of cases,

and they need a lot of food and they need a lot of veterinary bills and

they need a lot of, space and water.

So you're running into an animal that has for a long time, been a pleasure

animal that is treated more like a pet in the eyes of the government.

And then it doesn't really qualify for income like cattle tend to

be more easily verified, , as a farm expense for that.

You end up with animals that, people have a hard time paying for

and they're big and they have big continual needs and they need homes.

So

Thank you for enlightening us on that.

So you have the two llamas and it started your actual hands on your own rescue

mission here on Starlight ranch with the two llamas now being three of course.

Yeah.

That's so you kept the third.

And how do the kids get involved?

Yeah, so the kids really like all the animals.

they don't do a whole lot with the llamas per se cause they're

not super handleable, but the, um, the kids really like the horses.

And then we have, pygmy goats as well.

And those are, and pigs, those are all really fun.

We just go out there as a family together and do the farm chores

together and, barn cleaning.

What do you use pygmy goats for?

You can milk them.

We are not currently milking any of them.

We kept them as pets.

So the kids play with them and learn from them and

take care of them and feed them.

Yeah.

And they're just, they're hilarious.

They're pure entertainment and love,

and the kids obviously absolutely love their company.

There's so many things I like about having kids

in this situation but I think it's great for their upbringing overall.

It teaches them so much responsibility.

And then I think it teaches them where food comes from as well,

because we do produce our own food.

. I think for kids to have an understanding of , oh, this is where eggs come from.

This is the process it takes to get eggs to my table or, oh, that's milk.

This is cheese, this is butter.

These all come from this and this is how it happened.

Just that understanding, , it's good for kids to have an appreciation of that and,

Really valuing where all that stuff comes from and not wasting it.

We've rescued some chickens.

, most of the ones we rescue are not the ones that currently lay eggs, just

because, We hatch our own eggs for our egg stock and we added new bloodlines.

And the milk cows are not rescues.

We did have to purchase those, to get uh, a well-trained milk cow that

has, good utters and is milkable.

I have not seen those in the rescue situation, regularly not to say that

it couldn't happen, but, , for our need, for that we ended up purchasing two.

And why pygmy goats?.

So six of the 10 were rescues.

Were available to do that.

We, We are a home.

so Yeah.

So w we have, uh, we have 10 goats now we've kept our our we're husband says

we're done we're captain goats right now.

Uh, cause we have two youngster, young goats, and they are so mischievious and

What do they do?

What are some of the things they do?

So they were bottled raised

, the kids, love To bottle feed, the goats are so cute.

And the pygmy goats are like the size of a Chihuahua when they're little.

so they're.

Oh, they're so cute.

Yeah.

They're, they're really.

adorable.

And their antics are hilarious, but because they're bottle raised, they're

super friendly, like obnoxiously friendly.

And so they jump on your back.

And the the kids kind of spoiled them to that when they were like little, little,

and they were like, look how cute.

And I'm like, no, no, don't let them do that.

No, not a good, a bad habit.

bad but mostly they just, they, they want to be with you a hundred percent

of the time, which is super cute, but , they walk between your legs and they've

tried to push into doors and push into the barn and ahead of you, which you

don't always want them in the barn.

And so then chasing these goats around, and they're big enough now.

30 pounds.

It was not a big deal when they were little and you just hoist

them up and pick them up and carry them back out of the barn.

But now you're like, Okay.

I have to go get the goats again, and it's just, , it's harder to go get them,

but, um, they'll nibble on your, any kind of zipper or button on your pants.

They try to eat it.

So they're just kind of.

like hilarity.

Did you have this planned.

Have a ranch and have the kids grow up in this lifestyle.

I kind of always did.

Yeah.

, from my earliest kind of mutterings.

So I was like, I'm going to have a ranch when I get older.

Cause I was so into horses.

Horses was the big thing as a kid.

As soon as I could say the word horse, I was asking to ride and asking for horses

so that I always said I wanted a ranch.

I didn't know what to actually do, it, which is so it's, it's very cool

that, we were able to, to realize that.

But,

yeah, I didn't always know what that would look like, but I

knew that I always wanted to have animals.

And then I always wanted that to be a big part of my life.

And luckily I met my husband who also loves animals.

, it was always important to me that our kids knew, , understood The boundaries

of animals and how to respect and how to care for them and, , to be

respectful of them and understand the food process and everything.

Well, I think that's very important and they're learning quite a

bit because , it's not easy work, it's difficult work, but also, as you said,

earlier, responsibility and there.

Great wonderful responsibilities that they're learning here and, you know, they

don't get to sit and watch TV when the cow has to be milked and so on on a ranch

plus allowing that time for contemplating.

Yeah.

It's included in that, which is kind of a bonus.

love it.

Yeah.

I mean, I sit on the hammock and I just watch the cows walk by, I've watched the

goats follow the dogs through the pasture.

mean, it's, It's just, it's so relaxing.

It's fun

Oh, absolutely.

And Starlight is a beautiful ranch, very beautiful ranch.

Thank you.

We love it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Now your horses, you had mentioned earlier

that you had a rescue horse.

And do you still have this rescue horse?

And what was the story behind that?

So, Tucker.

Yeah, so that was my first horse getting back into horses as an adult.

, we don't still have Tucker, we did end up finding him a different home only because

Tucker, it turns out, really wanted a job, like a fast paced everyday job.

He had one of those minds that just, he wanted to work and that's great.

We had to find him a home where he could do that because I

ride max twice a week and during the winter I ride less than that.

And so he was just getting bored basically.

Um, some horses like to sit at pasture and just kind of hang out.

Other horses really don't do well, just doing nothing.

And they need to have something to put their mind at work.

And so we found him a job where he had.

a job.

And his rescue.

So you said Denver, he wasn't walking around Denver.

No.

Yeah, we don't really know.

So I got him through contacts I know with the Colorado horse rescue network, which

is a huge rescue network up in Colorado.

And they're fantastic, it's a great organization.

He was.

Really, really underweight when he was given to her.

His original story was not super well-known.

He was taken out of a bad situation and there wasn't a lot more information on

the specifics of it, but he was severely underweight when he went into the program.

So he was rehabilitated.

And then by the time we got him he was fat and and happy and, I had him

probably two years and he was great.

I loved him, so we are a home that fits their personality and vice versa.

So, um, And that's, I think part of the thing with animal rescue is, you know, you

can't always keep all of them a hundred, percent of the time and, you know,

Feel bad about it, but yeah.

um, he, he went into a nice home where they were able to give him a, a daily job.

What do you see in the future as far as animals go because you have

your practice, which the practice plus you have the ranch, plus you have the

animals that you're rescuing and you have the kids that you're raising.

You have a huge plate that is full, but you're able to do it all.

W which is quite inspiring.

And so what do you see as far as animal rescue or animals in the future for Dr.

Stephanie Parks?

So I would always love to continue to do animal rescue, at least

in the capacity that we can on this farm.

And we'll have to see what that looks like in the future because we have

enough space that if I can convince my husband we could probably get,

he just needs to listen to the podcast and hear

more things here and there.

, I think while the kids are this young, they're, middle school and under

right now, we do, twofold things.

We have our, rescue animals.

And then, we have the food producing side of the farm.

So we, um, we hope to always keep both sides of those going and

hopefully have our pets and all of our personal animals be rescues

or, something supportive of that.

And here's one of your kids.

This is.

AJ.

He's.

eight.

Do you want to talk about some of the animals?

We're talking about the goats and the farm.

You want to tell, you been, talk about how you helped raise the pygmy goats?

What do you have to say about the pygmy goats?

They're fluffy and cute.

What did you think about raising them?

Did you bottle feed them?

Yes.

Oh, and can you tell us a little bit about the bottle feeding?

They would just chug it.

They would chug it.

Did you have to hold them and cuddle them?

Sweet vengeance.

What is that?

I don't

know.

It's

Alma

something

and something

learned.

So we had baby pigs.

But one of them died.

Oh.

One of them died.

sickness,

Sickness.

And that's something else that they're learning is that you lose,

Yeah.

We lost three dogs.

three dogs,

When you're talking about some of the things

that your kids learn, what is one that you feel is very important

on their education with regard to.

the animals?

So I think animals, a lot of animal relationships mirror

our relationships with humans.

So if, if we're able to respect an animal and look at their body language

and respect what they're telling us, then that really translates for children

and for all, all adults, into how

how you can

Move that into your human relationships.

Things like consent, for example, teaching young children about, with our

new cat that we have, for example, when he likes to be touched where he likes

to be touched, where is okay to touch him where he doesn't like to be touched?

Just kind of establishing those ground rules of look, look

how he's acting right now.

He doesn't like that.

He's telling, you no.

And starting at a young age and, and letting kids understand that oh,

okay, the cat doesn't like that.

Cool.

Let's not do that.

And.

Especially when you're working with the bigger animals, like horses,

body language is huge and learning to, calm yourself and take a step

back and read that body language.

With the horses, especially cause we have multiple horses and they live in a herd.

So, um, teaching the kids okay, watch her ears, watch her tail.

What's she doing?

Is it safe to go near her right now?

And obviously we don't let them out without us, but.

You know, kind of teaching them to watch that body language and look

at her face, look at her eyes.

Is she happy right now?

And those things you have to do to work with horses, it's just horse 101..

People who've been working with horses for a long time, kind of just understand that.

But if you can spell that out for people that I think goes a long way

in, in helping kids to understand, Body language and facial cues.

Yeah.

If you learn to look for that stuff and you learn like, oh, you see, when her face

was wrinkled like that, she's not happy.

Then they're like, oh, and that really translates.

And then being able to quiet yourself enough to have that interaction with

that animal, I think it's really, an important skill for kids to learn.

As they get older, they can become better listeners with humans, also

because they're listening and reading that body language and the tone of voice.

So that, that definitely helps to inform them about the situation they

might be in or to avoid situations.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, Stephanie, the last part of the show is

always your last inspiring words

. stephanie Parks: Ooh.

Last inspiring words.

I think.

The thing that inspires me and my animal rescue stuff is just to always look

at each thing you're going to do like, oh, I think I'm ready for a new dog.

Or I think I'm thinking about getting X, Y, or Z, or how can I help whatever

cause, and try to look at what's the best possible way that I can do this?

How can I help the most people and things by doing this And, you know, how

can I maximize the benefit that that's going to be, because there's really a

lot that you can do with, your actions and with the way you live your life.

So even if you aren't able to, have a big ranch full of rescue animals,

there's a ton of different stuff that you can do that you can, you

know, kind of make those choices.

Just more impactful.

So we always try to make sure, especially when a rescuing dogs, how can I

make this adoption you know, what dog is at the most at risk right now

how can we, kind of get the most impact with our action there.

we choose typically kind of at risk breeds or, you know, like black dogs

tend to be a little more at risk.

So we try to , just make every choice as impactful as we can.

There's a lot of little things that you can do and, even if you

can't even take any animals at all, which is completely fine, I mean,

everybody's situation is different.

You can donate your time.

You can donate supplies, things like blankets or, old cat kennels or different

things that a lot of rescues need.

The horse rescues are always in need of hay, old tack.

There's a lot of things you can do to just make every action that, you

do have as much impact as possible.

Yes.

And you are so right about that.

Stephanie Dr.

Parks, this has been absolutely wonderful.

And your world completely opened up with your own volunteerism as a child.

And that in itself is inspiring and you've kept at it for all of these years.

And now you are modeling that for your children.

I hope so.

Yeah, it's been, it's been great for me, so hopefully we can pass that along.

Thank you so much for sharing your positive imprints here on the show.

You're welcome.

Thank you for having me.

This has been fun.

Yes.

Your positive imprint.