RUFF funds spay-neuters for animal rescue nonprofit 

By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

If you entered Lone Peak Veterinary Hospital at the right time on Jan. 3, 11-week-old Sparky might have pawed your knee and nibbled at your fingers. With two of Sparky’s 12 canine siblings—Augie and Chonky Bob—still up for adoption among many other pups, the Prairie Song Rescue crew might tempt any dog lover.  

Prairie Song Rescue is a nonprofit animal rescue operation in Wilsall, primarily focused on fostering dogs from reservations—while also taking in sheep, pigs, horses, cats and whatever exotic animals need support. Director Jesscy Zimmermann brought 11 dogs to Big Sky on Jan. 3, where the local vet, Dr. Sydney “Syd” Desmarais and support staff, helped spay-neuter them for free. 

“We want to get healthy, good dogs into perfect homes for them,” Zimmermann of Prairie Song told EBS. “So we don’t give any [animal] out before it’s fully vetted—everything needs to be spayed, neutered, wormed, microchipped, the whole works.”  

She thanked Dr. Syd, who offered an entire Wednesday to support Prairie Song after seeing a Facebook post about a challenging situation: in December, Prairie Song adopted more than 40 dogs in varying health from an unfit owner. On Jan. 3, Lone Peak Vet spayed and neutered nine dogs, and vaccinated and wormed all 11.  

Funding for the procedures came from the Big Sky nonprofit Riley’s Urgent Fund for Friends (RUFF), founded by Dr. Syd in 2020. RUFF is an assistance fund that supports underserved animals with medication costs, veterinarian care and medical equipment. Through RUFF, Lone Peak Vet can usually help cover emergency costs for pet owners needing support.  

Dr. Syd highlighted this week’s spay-neuter volunteer work—for Big Sky community members who donate to RUFF, they’re supporting important work like this. 

After the Jan. 3 work, Zimmermann dropped off six dogs at permanent homes on the drive back to Wilsall.  

“Huge, huge, huge for us,” Zimmermann said. “Brings me to tears… [Dr. Syd] has already been very vocal about the fact that she’d love to continue to help.” 

“100%,” Dr. Syd confirmed. “Our whole goal is to work with rescue dogs… To try to help dogs within Montana get the help they need. We would love to expand that and continue to do it… That’s the part of the job I love, and I really want to make that happen.” 

Bridger Animal Nutrition in Bozeman also supports Prairie Song regularly with food and adoption pop-ups. “They’re fantastic. Shoutout to them,” Zimmermann said.  

Prairie Song Rescue continues to build toward structured fundraising, Zimmermann said. The nonprofit has been largely self-funded, over 60%, with operating funds also covered by private donations and grants. Adoption fees are counted as donations and used for operations. 

Zimmermann encouraged those looking for pets to consider supporting small, independent or lesser-known entities like Prairie Song.  

“We’re definitely very underfunded and overworked. I can think of 10 [operations] in Montana alone… that are in desperate need,” she said.  

For Big Sky readers open to adopting, animals are posted regularly on Prairie Song’s Facebook page. Zimmermann advertised one especially good boy: Hawk.  

“He is one of the coolest dogs,” Zimmermann said. “He is from the Blackfeet [Reservation]. And he has just been such a pleasure. We’ve done over 350 dogs, and he has been in our top-five favorites. He is just such a fun dog.”  

In 2023, Prairie Song rescued and spay-neutered more than 100 cats, fostered more than 50 horses and nine llamas, and cared for various bird species.  

Zimmermann grew up in a veterinarian household, and has been doing rescues her whole adult life. Her husband, former two-time Olympic Nordic skier Leif Zimmermann, overcame his aversion to dogs—Jesscy joked that he now owns about 18.  

“Now he is so hands-on, I could not do it without him. He is in the trenches and loves it, and is very passionate about it as well,” she said.   

Formed in 2020, RUFF had its most-ever funding in 2023 through a large donation and its primary fundraising and community event, Mountain Mutt Mania in September. 

Dr. Syd hopes that Lone Peak Veterinary Hospital will move into a larger space, where RUFF can deed restrict a portion of the facility in perpetuity to serve as a local animal shelter “that will last forever.” 

For now, by helping rescue dogs from almost two hours away, Lone Peak Veterinary Hospital is doing its part with the resources available.