21 young donkeys. Starving. Sitting in mud. Their owner fell off of a ladder when he was making repairs to the house. He died. During this awful time, the donkeys were deemed too much by the bereft wife. She could not emotionally, mentally, physically… care for them. So, they were left to fend for themselves for many weeks during winter storms in Texas. 9 young jennies and 12 intact (mostly young) jacks… losing weight daily in the rain and mud… . They are all very, very skinny – especially the youngest. They all need skin care, proper nutrition and halter training! The 12 boys all need to be gelded when they are fit enough for surgery.
Dr. Kris Anderson came to the rescue and took all 21 donkeys into her home – and is helping them out of her own pocket. She also had to construct special housing for the intact males. As soon as they are all ready for gelding, she will perform all 12 of those surgeries, too. They all need excellent food, skin treatments, gelding and training.
Let’s help Dr. Kris with her good deed of jumping in and handling this situation, taking on this expense personally. She just couldn’t not do something!
All donations are 100% tax deductible! Thank you in advance for starting this year – helping! Our goal is $200 per donkey to cover food, gelding, meds, housing, halter training, feet… . A total of $4200!
This is Purdy. She is very, very underweight and sickly. (The lead rope is not on her eye. But close. These were 21 wild, never haltered donkeys that needed to be captured and photographed for the Coggins test. It was a wild day, but all made it to Dr. Kris’ home – and they are all being treated and cared for 24/7. )
They were all standing in mud and wire. This one is now named, Buddy.
This is Buttercup. The sores on her face need to be diagnosed.
This is junior stud, Rio. Not only is he very underweight, but he has eye and nose issues.
Here you can see how skinny they are… look at that hip. The hair hides the evils. But they are all skinny with skin issues.
This is a young jack now named, Cupid. They had broken down much of the fencing and barn, looking for food.
This is Flash. He ran away from his rescuers… (even though he is skin and bones under that hair)…once captured again, he was put in this paddock that had some grass. Lucky guy! He needs to be gelded once he gains weight.
This is poor Gidget. She is extremely underweight and depressed.
This is another baby, Lacy. She is very underweight. It is difficult to see under the hair, but she is tiny.
This is Paco… another baby stud.
This is Peanut. He is called Peanut because he is so skinny under that coat.
Another very skinny girl with the ridge of her topline showing. This is Pumpkin.
This is Shrek. He was pretty strong and didn’t want to be caught or haltered. Here you can see that they used a rope… the helpers were dragged in the mud, catching him, I was told.
This is very young, very skinny and very sweet, SweetPea. She doesn’t know how to stand tied. None of them do. (Another halter too close to the eye… but she is fine.)
THEIR STORY…
When their relatively young owner died, his wife was unable to care for the donkeys. Luckily, their vet, Dr. Kris, heard about what had happened and took the time to reached out to find out who was caring for the donkeys. Once she found out that no one was caring for the donkeys… she offered to help the wife by taking on all 21 donkeys, herself. Personally. Dr. Kris had to evaluate them all, photograph them all for Coggins (in-state rule), prepare her pastures for the intact jacks and jennies, transport them all (they didn’t know how to load) and then treat them all.
Now, Dr. Kris Anderson is feeding them so they will become strong enough to go through the gelding and worming process. With proper nutrition and skin care, they should be available for adoption in a few months.
Here are some of the newly rescued and finally EATING donkeys – at Dr. Kris’ home. She took them ALL into her small ranch. Because the males were all intact jacks, that was a challenge… but she did it!
THANK YOU!!!!!
BUCKY says, THANK YOU.
To clarify a little: the wife was feeding them, but as a person who knows very little about livestock and had not done any of the day to day care, when she was thrust into this position, knew nothing. She was trying, but overwhelmed, and was feeding some but not what they needed and not nearly enough; combined with a harsher winter than normal and record rainfalls, the situation was exacerbated. She realized she was in way over her head and did the right thing by turning them over.
I have seen so many cases of horrific neglect in my career thus far. None is excusable, but some are forgivable. I know that kind woman was beyond broken, and could barely hold it together without crying each time I was out there; caring for several dozen livestock was far more than she could handle. I counseled her and guided her to what was best, and I made sure none of these donkeys was in danger while she was coming to terms with what needed to be done. In this case, I strongly oppose any criminal charges.
The Grimes County miniatures, also featured here, were another case of mine. I wholeheartedly support the criminal charges that have been filed there. That woman had been collecting animals for well over a decade by her own choice, and actively allowing them to continue to breed. She had had animals seized before. Meeting her and being on site, she was undoubtedly mentally ill.
I didn’t live in her shoes, don’t know what it was like for her… but she did release all of the donkeys into Dr. Kris’ care. So the healing begins for the donkeys
And, for me, that is what it is all about. Righting the wrong through the animal part. Hopefully, we can help Dr. Kris do that for these donkeys.
I’m sorry but I think the proper wording is “his wife was UNWILLING to care for them”. I realize first hand that the death of a spouse is an earth shattering event. I honestly thought it would have been easier if I had been the one to die. However, guess what – my multiple critters still got fed even when I couldn’t muster up the effort to feed myself. She could have picked up the phone and called any one of a number of organizations to seek assistance. I realize all involved are trying to be kind by saying “unable” but I get tired of society buying stupid excuses at face value just because they come attached to a sad story. I sincerely hope criminal charges are pending although I realize that is probably a pipe dream at best.