Found: Two Donkeys!

Got a call Tuesday morning from Cathy who lives out by me, her friend Lynn had found two donkeys wandering on Patton Road. Actually even before that I got a call from Wade (yes Mikey's Wade) taht someone had found two donkeys and they wondered if they were mine... but I was pretty sure mine wouldn't have been able to get out on the road even if they did get out of their pens, so I wasn't woried. Then when he said one had a halter on I KNEW they weren't mine... anyway Lyynn, with the help of Cathy and another neighbor Pat, got them off the road but didn't know what to do with them, long story short Cathy called me and Lynn kept them in her yard until I could come and get them after work.


I was surprised at how easily they were caught and loaded in the trailer!


Step one was to separate them as the male was intact and the female way too young to be getting pregnant! They are not happy about it but if by the grace of God she wasn't already pregnant before she got to me, there is no way I am going to let it happen here! I did ask Soleil to talk to them, she didn't get much as they were both agitated but she believes that this is Forrest:

And this is Jess:

They told her that their owner couldn't afford to keep them any more and had dropped them off. They said they didn't care if they went back there or not but were adamant about staying together.

So of course I feel badly about separating them and the first couple of days Jess didn't eat much at all which worried me. Despite having my donkeys close for company she stil looks really depressed but is finally eating. Forrest on the other hand I have to keep far away from ALL the girls just in case, he is eating ok but has paced so much he is digging his way to CHINA! In fact if he didn't already tell us his name was Forrest, I think I would call him TRENCHER!

Anyway just to be safe we posted signs on Patton Road and at the store and post office, placed ads on CL and Pets911, and AZBCR, and I also e-mailed to everyone out in this area that I have an e-mail address for.

But today I got a call from Cathy that another gal she knows ran into a guy today that might be their owner. He claims he was trying to load them in a trailer and they got away from him. This doesn't quite wash with me, because if that were the case why wasn't he trying to catch them and why haven't we heard a word in two days? However he was also heard to say that he doesn't want them back so Cathy is going to try and locate him tomorrow and get him to sign a bill of sale for them. The good news is if I get ownership documented, Soleil already has a possible home for them that sounds just perfect! Stay tuned...