Saving Donkeys

 

Donkeys are worthless. Unlike a horse, they cannot be readily ridden for transportation. The mule is better for pulling farm implements or hauling a wagon. Add to these deficiencies that today everything is mechanized. You don’t need a horse or a mule or harvest a field of cotton, let alone the donkey. And, unless you’re poor, desperate and hungry, donkey meat isn’t considered to be that tasty. As a result, a donkey has no value at a typical auction in a livestock sale barn. 

Being a value-less creature has no benefits. Tens of thousands of donkeys are feral, running wild throughout the American Southwest, from California to Texas. The U.S. Government Bureau of Land Management will round up herds of donkeys and try to give them away. As water--and grass that needs water--becomes more scarce, cattle ranchers consider donkeys to be a nuisance, or worse, predatory, because they consume water and food that otherwise is reserved for the cash herd.

Donkeys were introduced to the American southwest during the mining booms of the latter part of the 19th century. Miners would use them to transport tools and supplies into the mines, and to pull ore out. Since the gold and silver rushes ended the donkey has seen its career prospects vanish. Many donkeys were set loose into the wild and their ancestors became feral.

If donkeys are worthless and a nuisance to ranching commerce, what can one do about them? That's the problem that San Angelo's Donkey Rescue is solving.

Mark Meyers, a California native, founded Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue in 2000 and relocated the Rescue from California to Miles, Texas in 2012.  The non-profit purchased an old dairy farm just off U.S. 67, at 8317 Duckworth Rd., on the way from San Angelo to Ballinger.  In his book "Riding for the Brand," Meyers wrote about the 'Texas opportunity', citing the over 700 donkey rescues in Texas as compared to just seven in California in 2011. Aside from that, he wrote, state and local government regulations, the cost of hay and insurance, and his California donkey-hating neighbors contributed to his decision to flee the west coast.

Today, from that former dairy farm in Miles, Meyers directs an organization of 15 donkey adoption centers serving 27 states.

Compared to horses or mules, donkeys are smarter and have better senses of hearing, smell, and vision, said donkey wrangler David “Doc Darlin” Duncan, who also serves as the Rescue’s public relations contact. Duncan relates a donkey to a great pet, like a dog, except it’s bigger and eats more grass or hay. “They have a larger brain. They’re smarter than a horse,” he said.

Touring the facility on a cold Sunday morning two weeks ago, Duncan said the Texas location is now home to 970 donkeys.

For the west Texas rancher, a donkey is an excellent addition to a sheep or goatherd. The donkey will watch over the herd and defend it against common predators like foxes or coyotes. But Duncan said that many adopting families of donkeys like to have them around as pets.

If you have the land--a few acres for a donkey to roam--donkeys make excellent companions.

If you don’t have the room to adopt, you can always support the Donkey rescue financially.

Learn more about San Angelo’s Donkey Rescue at donkeyrescue.org.

 

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I get the point, but If mules have value, it's hard to think of donkeys as worthless, since it takes a donkey to make a mule. (I know some people like that--the only good thing they did was have children that turned out to be decent folks!)
Wow, Joe ... taking ALOT of heat on the PVDR Facebook page over "worthless"!! PVDR Adopters from all across the country are weighing in! "Valueless in today's market" would've probably been more accurate, albeit more wordy for a lead-in .... Donkeys regularly appear in Texas sale barns for $5 (or less), making them mostly "worthless" as a livestock animal. County Sheriffs all across Texas who have to catch and care for estray donks can't "fatten them up" and recoup some of the cost at a sale barn, the way they can with seized horses or cattle. The burden of estray donkeys on local law enforcement is no small matter these days in Texas; PVDR-Texas has been committed to taking in these animals as a priority. As for "making mules", most mule breeders prefer to use Mammoth American Jackstock; since a mule is a hybrid animal coming from a female horse & male donkey (jack), female donks (jennets, jennys) are "worthless" for that purpose. Very few domestic donkeys are Mammoth American Jacks, and such animals are very rarely "dumped", to eventually end up with PVDR. (Ranchers and other irresponsible breeders who keep jacks around for "making mules" usually have other jens around; jacks + jens = more "wothless" donkeys that will end up wandering Texas back roads ... to be caught by Country Sheriffs & brought to PVDR, where we will be tasked with the animals' welfare for the next 30 or 40 years .... donkeys have a long life-span.) In a "good economy", Miniature donkeys (36" or less at the shoulder) do have value; folks Back East especially seem fond of breeding them to pull little carts & such. The "Mini Craze" has had its downside for us, too ... last year PVDR-Texas took in 80 minis from a "breeding farm" near Houston that financially collapsed-in on itself. The "breeders" had started with one pair of minis, the entire herd was descended from them, with the ensuing genetic problems of massive in-breeding, &etc. As a pet or companion animal, a "value" cannot be set on a donkey. Their intelligence, emotional range, & obvious displays of affection are simply priceless to those folk who have the pleasure of knowing these wonderful animals.
"They have a larger brain. They’re smarter than a horse." ~ Doc I can't back-up the first part of that quote, I actually have no idea whatsoever of the horse v. donkey brain weight comparison, but I'll stand by the second part forever. Horses, in direct comparison with donks, are just plain dumb, & I know that'll offend a whole lot of folks around here, and I'm sorry for that. A Bad Analogy I use often is Dogs & Cats; horses are like dogs, they'll follow you around everywhere, love you unconditionally, and have a desire to please you. Donkeys, like cats, do not. They can be very fickle in their affections, and if they decide they do not want to do what you want them to do ... well, there just ain't a whole lot you can do about that. The donkeys reputation for 'stubbornness' stems mostly from their intelligence, and also from their highly developed sense of self-preservation. If a donkey does not understand something, or is afraid that there is danger ahead, he will plant his feet. All the cussing & beating in the world will not get that donk to move, if he has determined that it is in his best interest not to. As seen in movies, horses can be ridden into a river of unknown depth, or off a cliff-face. I've had donkeys balk at crossing a little stream of water from a leaking water trough ... how deep is that? Can't we go around it? Why does he want me to go down there, anyway? I'm just gonna stand here for a minute and think about it .... Donkeys require alot of patience & convincing. They will not just rush blindly into something, & I respect them for this. Loading them into an unfamiliar trailer when tired & pressed for time can be extremely frustrating for the donkey wrangler, but I have to consider: what would I do if some screaming jerk in a cowboy hat tied a harness around my neck & face and tried to drag me into a dark metal box? I think I'd be a little "stubborn", too ...

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