HAPPY TAILS
TWINKY:
Sept
2007 A woman called wanting to find a home for a little donkey
she bought in Dec 2007. Twinky was very young to be weaned & her
new home had no donkeys although there were 2 horses. The horses
rejected the baby donkey & wanted nothing to do with her, so she ended up in
a pen by herself. The woman knew this wasn't a good situation & wanted
to find a home that was a better fit. Normally we wouldn't have taken
her, because she is healthy & very marketable, although we would have helped to find
her a home. But since she was so young when she was weaned, & hasn't
been around donkeys since, she needs to learn to be a donkey. We'll give
her some time to learn donkey manners & then look for her a Forever Home of
her own.
UPDATE: In
June 2008, Twinkie went to her new home with 3 other jennies. This is a
home, with people that take wonderful care of all their animals & she should
slip right into the "herd". She is going to have a name change
though. The other girls all have Spanish names, such as Frijolita I.E.
Little Bean. So Twinkie is going to become Spanish for Little Cookie.
HONCHO:
Honcho is a 2001 BLM donkey from the Lake Pleasant herd Northwest of Phoenix.
In Sept 2002, he was purchased from the BLM as an intact jack for $25.00.
The BLM sells jacks cheap when they get too many. Most probably end up
as roping donkeys. Honcho actually got a good home, although he was kept
in a small pen. He was well fed, & was taught his ground manners,
including loading & unloading from a trailer. But they really had
no use for him, & wanted him gone. We heard about his situation from
a neighbor, & made contact with the owners, & they were happy
to get rid of him. He has been gelded, & will be adopted out, as soon
as we find a forever home for him. Although we are a sanctuary for the
unadoptable, we occasionally find young healthy donkeys that need a better
home than they have. We found homes for 6 donkeys in 2005.
UPDATE: Honcho went to his new home 12/14/06. He will have 40 acres to roam on & his new Mom wants to continue his clicker training.
Remington Steele AKA Remy - 2005:
I made the mistake of going to a local
BLM auction with a friend. We went on Sunday which is leftover day. They have the auction on Saturday & whatever is left can be bought at a set price on
Sunday. There were no jennies left, only 3 jacks. Two of the
jacks were bonded, so my friend decided to take them & told me I needed to get the
other one, so he wouldn't be left alone. When I got him home & looked him over I discovered that he had been gelded. I called the BLM holding
area up by Kingman, AZ & they checked his records & he was in fact gelded in 2006.
BLM doesn't routinely geld the jacks, & they couldn't tell me why he had been gelded. They had no
record of him being adopted & returned, so it's a mystery with no answer.
Remy & Honcho (above) are running buddies on 40 acres. They have different owners that have put their
two parcels together to make a perfect place for these 2 boys to run.
SHILOH: 1998?
We
bought Shiloh, sight unseen from an ad in the paper for an $ 85 donkey in
March 2004. He is another one that has been traumatized & has shut down.
The man we bought him from, got him at an auction as a package deal with
a mule. He wanted the mule, but not the donkey, so advertised Shiloh in
the paper. Shiloh has had his throat torn out, probably from an aggressive
horse or donkey. He’s also been kicked in the mouth, & has teeth
that are embedded in his gums, & scarring on his muzzle. He wants nothing
to do with any type of restraint. He’s very gentle & his only
defense is to escape. He’s never kicked or been aggressive in any
way. Shiloh went to his new family in March of 2008.
BELLE: 1997
Belle
was given to us in 2006 because her family could no longer take care of the
habronema infestation on her face & legs.
She came in with bloody wounds on her face where she had rubbed because
of the intense itching. We started
treatment immediately & she steadily improved throughout the fly season.
In 2007 she had no further problems, so we started looking for a home
that would appreciate how well mannered & gentle she is.
Shiloh had chosen her as his special friend, so they would have to go
together. In March of 2008 a couple
that had never had donkeys were interested in adopting, & decided that Belle
& Shiloh were perfect. They
settled in immediately, & have 3 acres of pasture to graze & a family
that thinks they are special. 
Punkin - 2001?
Punkin
came in with her mother, Lucy in 2003. Punkin was still nursing & had a
heavy load of worms. We found a good home for them with a BLM gelding that had
been by himself for a few years. A few months later we took Lucy back because
she needed surgery. By this time Punkin had grown up & decided she liked her
new boyfriend better than being a "momma's girl" anyway, so I'm not
sure she ever missed Lucy. Besides her boyfriend, she also shares a large field
with a couple of young cattle that were saved from being veal. They all get
along very well, except feeding time gets a little wild sometimes.
Dixie Doodle, SusyQ, Falena and Rocket Man (Rocky)
We
were notified about 4 donkeys on a ranch down by Sasabe that were going to be
taken to auction to get rid of them. They had been captured up in the
mountains when the 2 babies were very small & brought down to a guest ranch
for the tourists to "play" with. In fact SusyQ was so young they
brought her down laying across a saddle, because she couldn't keep up.
Putting tourists & cute fuzzy donkey babies with their moms together
makes for some spoiled donkeys. The ranch didn't mind that, but when they
started spending a lot of time on the porches eating the wooden chairs, they
wore out their welcome.
They
were all very tame & easy to work with, although SuzyQ was rather excitable
& liked to rear & buck, not always paying attention to where she was at
or if anyone was in the line of fire.
Rocky
was gelded & went to a new home locally. His mom Falena & the
other two girls went to The Wild Burro and Donkey Foundation of Central Texas
Inc in 2005 & as of 2008, are still there.
BENNIE
& NINA:
In
2006 a woman called needing a home for 2 donkeys. She had recently
been annexed into Gilbert & had too many equines on her property for the new
zoning. These were young donkeys 4 to 5 years old, she had bought to get
them out of being used as roping donkeys. Although they were both healthy,
at sometime in her life, Nina's nostril had been ripped open & not treated.
She also has very poor quality rear feet, either from birth or poor hoof care.
Although we usually don't take healthy donkeys, we thought Nina's nose defect
probably would make her worthless to a lot of people, & she might end
up back as a roping donkey or worse. The woman wanted them to stay
together, which meant healthy Bennie was part of the package deal.
We
brought them home, started working on her feet & figured they would be here
for a long time. Nina was rather shy, but Bennie never saw a stranger
& was an immediate hit, when tours came out to visit the donkeys. 
I
got a call from a woman wanting a couple of donkeys to add to her family.
After talking to her on the phone, this sounded like a home that might work for
Bennie & Nina. She made arrangements to come out for a visit.
When she & her husband drove up, & got out of the car, Bennie &
Nina left the hay bunk, & came over to greet them. That cinched the
deal, the people went home & started preparing a place for these two.
By the time we delivered them, a mini mule named Lucy had moved in & not
long afterwards Rosie another donkey added to the herd. They have 17 acres
to roam on, & a wonderful lifetime home.
Jacko
I
got a call from a woman in Tucson wanting a companion for a donkey. He
had been with a couple of horses, but was now by himself. They came out to
see if we had any adoptable donkeys that would fit into their family.
After talking to them for awhile, I thought they might be interested in finding
Jack a new home, rather than adding another animal to their busy schedule.
I knew
of a woman that needed a new friend for her donkey. She had 2 donkeys
& 2 horses, but a mountain lion had killed her jenny a few weeks
earlier. She was absolutely devastated & so was Tio. She was
looking for another jenny, but was willing to try a boy.
His
name was Jack, while he was here we called him JackD for donkey, because we
already had a JackM for mule.
Tio
was so excited the day we delivered him & they have become the best of
friends. This is a wonderful lifetime home, with people that love their
animals & will do whatever necessary to make sure they receive any care
needed.
His
name is now officially Jacko.
Thanks to Laura for the picture!
SUGAR:
In
April 2007 I got a call from a woman whose neighbor had this little girl for
sale. He had bought her at auction to use as a roping donkey. One of
his neighbor's bought a roping machine, so he wanted to get rid of her. She
was only about a year old & cute as she could be. This woman didn't
have the money to buy her, & was afraid she would stay in the roping
community. We drove down to Elfrida southeast of us & bought
her sight unseen. I'm glad he never roped her, because she is the nosiest,
most curious, donkey we've ever had. She helps us do everything. If
she sees us outside, she'll usually come to see what we are doing. She
also has no fear. We came home one day & she had a large patch of hair
missing from her butt. She seems to think Max, the horse is a big brother
& doesn't realize he doesn't like donkeys to get close to him.
In
January 2008, Sugar went to a wonderful home, with Jacque, who had only had
horses as friends for a few years. As I understand it, she has moved
in & pretty much showed Jacque how it's going to be. Typical
jenny behavior, even a young one.
MOLLY:
We
got a panic call one day about this little mule, which incidentally is just as
cute as her picture. The woman got her at auction for $55.00. At the
weaning age of 5 months she was loaded on a trailer in South Dakota with a bunch
of other little mules & hauled to Arizona to auction. By the age of 6
months she had been thru 2 auctions, when this woman bought her. The woman
wanted something to protect her mini horses.
A
few day later the new owner noticed liquid & feces dripping from
her belly. Molly had 3 fistulas in her belly that now were infected.
She had probably jumped over something sharp & punctured her belly.
The vet wanted to put her down, but the owner refused. 
The
surgery didn't go without problems, at one time they had over 5 gallons of
intestines that really needed to be in her abdominal cavity, rather than in a
bucket. She spent 15 days on the ground, except when the people would
raise her up with a rigging they attached to the back of their pickup. (Thanks
to Anita for this picture) Once she was healthy she had a lot of energy & the woman's fences weren't as
effective for a yearling mule, as they were for mini horses. She got in
with the woman's expensive little stallion & she decided that Molly had to
go before someone got hurt. After that faux'pau, Molly had to live in a
stock trailer for a few days until the woman called us & we agreed to
take her. She is a pocket mule, everything is interesting & whatever
people are doing is REALLY interesting. She finally wormed her way
into the inner circle of horses & mules. They kept running her off,
but she kept at it until they gave up, & let her hang around with them.
We
took her to the Equine Clinic in Gilbert for evaluation to make sure
everything was OK, & where it belonged before trying to find her a new
home. She passed inspection, & what scar tissue she has, is back by
her hind legs, & wouldn't interfere with a saddle or harness. She
certainly doesn't seem to have anything wrong with her.
In
late in 2007, I put out the word we were looking for her a home, & had lots
of interest in her. It's not often a young mule with this much
personality is available. I chose a wonderful home down by Tubac on
a 160 acre farm with lots of animals, people & interesting things going on,
to keep her little mind busy. She came out of the trailer, when we
delivered her like she owned the place & never looked back. She is
being worked with every day, & taken for walks by many different people. She
is going to have a wonderful life, after such a terrible start.
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