www.longhopes.org 1 Summer 2017 LONGHOPES LEGENDS Spring 2018 Above Kiri and Jovie (spotted miniature jennets) get brushed by a volunteer at Longhopes. The donkeys and mules on this page were part of 14 equines from Oklahoma that put us over the 1000th rescue mark. Kiri and Jovie were provided medical, farrier, and dental care along with a few intense training lessons under our care. They were adopted just a few weeks later! They now have a wonderful new life ahead with a loving family. We are proud to be celebrat- ing our first 1000 donkeys that have gotten a new lease on life at Longhopes. Miniature molly mules waiting for new homes : Mocha and India
Transcript
www.longhopes.org 1
Summer 2017
LONGHOPES LEGENDS Spring 2018
Above Kiri and Jovie (spotted miniature jennets) get brushed by a volunteer at Longhopes. The donkeys and mules on this page were part of 14 equines from Oklahoma that put us over the 1000th rescue mark. Kiri and Jovie were provided medical, farrier, and dental care along with a few intense training lessons under our care. They were adopted just a few weeks later! They now have a wonderful new life ahead with a loving family. We are proud to be celebrat-ing our first 1000 donkeys that have gotten a new lease on life at Longhopes.
Miniature molly mules waiting for new homes : Mocha and India
Longhopes Donkey Shelter 2
This issue contains an article I have been needing to write for three years on why the cost of getting discarded donkeys has become ridiculous. The problem is as disturbing to me as it is to you. But you need to know what we face.
Each day that we labor to provide optimum care
to our donkeys, we also spend time pushing back against the slaughterhouse bailment system, which naively assumes a horse or donkey can be rehomed the second it is removed from the slaughterhouse pen. Nothing could be more false.
The bailment system also draws people who are addicted to the emotional rush of the “save,” but not the long, hard work that defines real “rescue.” Real rescue takes weeks, and months and sometimes even years of costly physical work as you can see from our 2017 expenses. That work is often not
glamorous (although necessary) so the addicts don’t financially support the shelters that do this work before placing equines in new homes. We are grateful that our readers know what we go
by Kathy Dean Founder and
From
the
Gem is a miniature jennet that came to us in 2017
already pregnant. On a cold day in February she
finally foaled. It was a rough birth. Emerald (Miss Em) had a front
shoulder stuck behind Gem’s hip and no amount of contractions
helped. Gem and Em were both in serious distress as we waited for the
vet to arrive. But our staff didn’t give up. We were able to turn mom
and foal enough to free Em before she expired from lack of oxygen .
Because we have our
heated hospital room,
mom and baby were
warm as they recovered
from the trauma.
Em and Gem are doing
great now and Em shows
no memory of her dramatic introduction to the
world.
2017 Expenses
Rescue, Rehab and Rehoming $204,306.91 Placement media $ 2,770.86 Intake fees $ 207.00 Title Certificates $ 1,506.00 Burial $ 150.00 Farrier $ 8,035.00 Feed $14,772.95 Insurance $ 6,608.66 Maintenance $ 7,911.71 Medical $28,595.06 Office and Outreach $17,122.16 Staffing $108,279.27 Utilities $ 2,305.16 Tack and Volunteer Supplies $ 1,331.79 Transportation $ 4,711.29
Administrative/Fund Raising $ 47,569.09
$251,876.00
No donkey is too small to save
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THIS IS FOR MY DONKEY FRIENDS ONLY (No Human Zone)
Because donkeys are thinking equines, we get bored easily and need lots of enrichment activities. At Longhopes, we have toy boxes. But there are rules; keep these between your big ears.
1. Study the contents of the toy box carefully. Don’t pick the firstthing you see.
2. Take out the perfect toy for you, don’t mind what theothers say
3. NEVER put any toy back- You may need it later, or not.
Alternative Ways to Give to Charities
*At age 70.5 a gi up to $100,000 from a tradi onal IRA (NOT Roth IRA or 401K) to a charity
that can be excluded from your income taxes and counted as part of minimum mandatory
withdrawal for the year.
*Stocks that you have held for held one year or more can be transferred directly to a charity
without a tax consequence to the stock owner.
*A CD, or bank account can be given to a charity without probate by designa ng it as
“Payable on Death” (POD) to the charity. This designa on does not alter the owner’s ability
to use the funds during the owner’s life me.
This is informa onal only and should be reviewed with a legal or tax expert.
Advice with a side of sASS
Miss Bliss Corner
Wendy Anderson is our in house
photographer who makes sure we
have great photos of the donkeys.
No shot is too challenging for her.
Thanks Wendy
Statistics 2018
Admissions 35
Adoptions 34
Total Admission 1018
Adoptions 952
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Horse traders have been selling equines to slaughterhouses for decades. When the U.S. slaughter-houses closed in 2007 equines started being sent to Mexico or Canada to be killed. Sadly, the U.S. plant closures only reduced U.S. horse slaughter by 10% and even that was significantly due to the European Union’s decision to reject equine meat tainted with pharmaceuticals. Horse traders also known as “kill-pen” brokers incur costs to ship equines out of the country. These costs cut into their profits so they ALWAYS try to find local buyers before shipping. Up until 3 years ago, buying slaughter bound donkeys was affordable as long as we stuck to only paying what the slaughterhouse would pay (but less shipping costs still made more profit for the broker).
Three years ago some unscrupulous brokers discovered they could make 500% more profit if they marketed to would be rescuers using social media. The broker “threatens” to send the donkey to slaughter on a set date, and this emotional trigger allows the broker to demand any price by the person seeking to “save” the donkey.
The money donated to buy the donkey is called “bail.” Typically, there is no information on the age, gender, health, or training of the donkey. Nor is there any guarantee or return policy. So the donor takes 100% of the risk at a cost higher than the adoption fee many legitimate rescues charge for a fully rehabilitated donkey.
As soon as the brokers found well meaning animal lovers that were willing to pay $250 for a donkey the price rose by $100 and it continued to rise. So now sick, thin, wild, crippled, intact donkeys that used to sell for $25 at livestock auctions (because of the intense rehab costs) require a bail of $500-$850. This is never going to be a practical way of saving equines and Longhopes opposes it.
Moreover, simple math compels a conclusion that the broker’s THREATS are hollow because no good business person would take $50 from a slaughterhouse if the donkey is really worth $455 locally. It is all about the money. In fact, we know donkeys the broker threatened to ship that stayed with the broker for months until the bail fee was collected.
This emotional game of deception has drained MILLIONS of dollars from legitimate rescues nationally and has made horse brokers rich. Longhopes is frequently asked to take bailed donkeys without financial support from the person who paid the bail. Unfortunately, the people fueling the bail system trust the brokers but not real shelters. Nor are they willing to acknowledge that the actual cost of saving equines includes more than just the initial bailment cost.
The only solution is to just stop. STOP the cycle.
The Emotional Extortion of Rescuers
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If only… If only it were not true that donkeys formed extremely loyal bonds with each other, it
would be faster and cheaper for us to rehome donkeys. But they DO. The bond means that
donkey pairs rely on each other for everything. They eat, sleep, exercise and protect each other.
They stress when they are separated and they mourn at the permanent loss of their partner.
They pick their burro buddy and it sticks. Sadly, because donkeys live 30+ years, and many peo-
ple only keep donkeys 5-10 years; a donkey will usually lose at least 3 homes during a lifetime.
The bonded buddy is the consequently the only constant in their life.
That is why our paired donkeys must be adopted together.
That takes extra time and
care to find the right home.
But, when we do it right, it
is an asstounding feeling.
(Photos: Milton and Archie –
brothers adopted together)
The Buddy System Revisited
Coach, is a 20 year old donkey that arrived with huge
fear issues. Only in the last 4 months of his 2 years with
us did Coach finally begin to show signs of trusting
humans again. That gave us guarded optimism he might
not spend the rest of his life at Longhopes. But how to
find him the right home? Just then, Rosanne and Phil
(who had 17 year old Boyd from Longhopes) reached
out looking to add a companion for Boyd. Could this
be Coach’s ticket out?
What could be better than getting Coach a family that
already knew how to care for the shy donkey-Boyd? We introduced Rosanne and Phil to Coach.
Coach was on his best behavior and immediately demonstrated that he could trust Rosanne. It
was uncanny how they understood each other. Rosanne was everything Coach needed.
A few days later Coach and Boyd met and began bonding. Now they are best buddies at the safe,
calm, protective home they both needed and wanted. It can be a very long wait sometimes, but
each donkey has its own timetable for recovery. Coach seized the moment for his future.
The Coach
Longhopes Donkey Shelter 6
INTERNATIONAL DONKEY Crisis-
As unbelievable as it sounds donkeys are at risk of extinction due to their mass murder for the harvest a lubricant in their hide that is used to make Ejiao. It is marketed by the Chinese as a cure for anemia, infertility, dementia and respiratory problems. Even Amazon sells it for $179 to $249 per box.
Initially, the Chinese met their hide demand by killing their own donkeys. As a result, their donkey population declined from 11 million to 3 million. But as the demand for Ejiao increased, China began the slaughter of donkeys around the world. Africa has been particularly hard hit. But even U.S. donkeys are at risk as evidenced by the opening of a skin export business in Washington.
Ejiao
Drying donkey hides for shipment to China
Furthermore, the horrific truth is that a starved, beaten donkey that is too weak to stand is just as valuable for its skin. So the conditions these donkeys endure before death are beyond description.
U.S. DONKEY Crisis-
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) delivered a report on April 26 that proposes slashing wild horses and burro herds to near-extinction levels through mass killing, sale to slaughter and sterilization. The BLM plan centers on achieving its “appropriate management level” of just 27,000 wild horses and burros, is the same number that prompted the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in 1971 when America’s wild equines were “fast disappearing from the West.” Since 1971, the BLM has removed a shocking 42 percent of the public lands designated for wild horse and burro habitat.
Reprinted from the In Defense of Animals May 1, 2018 Press Release
For 19 years Longhopes has been the front line ofdefense for homeless donkeys.
Please keep us rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming at risk donkeys with your gift in the envelope provided, or
an online donation at www.longhopes.org,
PayPal, or Colorado Gives.
Longhopes Donkey Shelter 7
We have been busy adding new
staff to be er manage our program
and we are excited for you to meet
them too.
A Mule’s Story – Cruiser finds his herd
Cruiser a 15 year old dark brown miniature mule was among the 2016 equines we rescued from the Spirit
of the Hills in South Dakota. Cruiser had clearly been separated from his companion in the move so he
paired up with Schroeder (an impaired miniature donkey who was also separated from his mate). Cruiser
didn’t like donkeys except Schroeder so we spent a lot of time trying to adopt them together. But the heart
wants what it wants. Schroeder wanted a home without horses because he is so physically vulnerable.
Cruiser wanted horses. After much deliberation we decided to let Cruiser be adopted without Schroeder.
It was the best decision for both. Cruiser is happier than we ever imagined he’d be. He is the center of his
horse herd. He gets upset when his horses leave him to work and cries until they come back after their
shift. Cruiser is so attached to his new friends, he even saved a horse by warning his adopter that the horse
was colicing. He then followed along as the horse was walked to relieve the colic. Congrats Cruiser.
Our WISH LIST
Brome Hay
Alfalfa
Senior equine grain
Graham Crackers
Laundry Detergent
Chlorhexidine
Victoria Schroeder (left)
Program Manager promoted to Executive Director EFF July 1, 2018
Nicole Shemanski (above)
Equine Manager
Cartoonist: Karen Kaehler
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NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
STRASBURG, CO
PERMIT NO. 8
Spring 2018
Longhopes Donkey Shelter 66 N Dutch Valley Rd Bennett, CO 80102 303-644-5930 | [email protected] www.longhopes.org
LONGHOPES LEGENDS
Thank you to Ian Cartwright and Lesley Alderton for our new (used) farm truck. We couldn’t spread manure when our old Ford quit working , so we are thrilled with the 2003 Chevy Silverado donated by Lesley and Ian. Have truck will spread!
