April 2, 2009

Karen and Ted Koran, pictured above, pose in front of their chicken coop. The couple are sacrificing their own lifestlye -- and diet -- in order to keep their pets at home. (ZT Pet News Photo Courtesy of Ted Koran)

WEEKI WACHEE, Fla. -- Though both he and his wife, Karen, are now unemployed, Ted Koran would rather give up eating than his two horses, five dogs, three ducks, two Pot Belly pigs, five cats, a dozen chicken and several mice.

Koran, 53, says his wife, who suffers from epilepsy, needs the animals -- enough that he was willing to cut down to one meal a day, enabling their pets to be fed properly.

"When we started getting the animals, we were in pretty good shape," Koran said. "It was just something that we enjoyed doing -- whereas some people go out and eat dinner, or buy nice cars, we do this. We have animals."

The animals are also indispensable in helping Karen Koran -- whose disability prevents her from keeping a job -- deal with the seizures she experiences daily.

If Karen Koran suffers from a seizure while she is outside with the horses, one of them will "take her [the horse's] lips and touch her all around the face," Ted Koran explained. "It'll catch her [Karen's] attention and help bring her out of the seizure."

"We have a Pot Belly pig who will sit at her feet [while she is convulsing] and look at her and just squeal at the top of her lungs," Koran continued. "If you have ever heard a pig squeal like that, it's like a fog horn. The noise will help her get distracted, bring her back to reality."

One of their dogs, Lucy, will place her head on Koran's lap while she suffers the seizures, and simply wait for the episodes to conclude.

The animals keep his wife going, Koran says, providing her with a sense of purpose.

"She has never been able to work and the animals, they keep her busy," he explained. "They keep her body occupied, caring for them. They keep her mind occupied, too, and she just spoils each and every one of them to death in her own special way."

After Koran was laid off from his construction job two months ago, he and Karen fell behind on their bills, but managed to cover their animals' approximate $100 weekly food bill.

However, Lady Luck came knocking on their central Florida home three weeks ago, when a local reporter learned of the family's predicament.

Or, more precisely, she called them on the telephone.

"We got a call at like 5:30 in the morning from this reporter, just like, 'We heard about you guys and find it really interesting and want to write a story about you,' " Koran recalled.

The story got picked up by other media outlets, and within days, the family began receiving donations from across the country, or "all the way from southern California, up the coast to northern Washington state, over to Montana and then Pennsylvania and down to Florida," as Koran described.

The Korans have since received more than $2,000 in checks, in addition to four $100 Wal-Mart gift cards and other donations to a nearby bulk pet supply store.

The contributions are enough to last the family -- and their menagerie of animals -- for around six months, without having to worry about how to foot the kibble and hay bills.

"Basically this money has put us back into the normal zone, so we are able to keep the bills paid, provide enough feed for our animals," Koran said.

The publicity was unintentional, says Koran, who maintains that he still doesn't know how the station even learned of him and his wife. Yet he notes that he is thankful for the unprecedented awareness and aid he continues to receive.

"The media response and everything happened by accident, but we have been very fortunate," he said. "This has really taken a lot of financial pressure and stress off of us."

To learn more about the Koran family or to donate money, e-mail mrtedmskaren@copper.net.