When Mark Meyers and his wife acquired a donkey to be a companion for their old horse, it was not on their agenda to rescue other donkeys. However, rescuing other donkeys is precisely what happened.
“Our first donkey’s name was Izzy, and we just fell in love with her,” Meyers told Dallas Express. “She was like a big dog.”
The couple had no experience caring for or owning a donkey, but they started to notice donkeys all around them. “They were always there,” Meyers said in an interview. “We just never paid them any attention.”
The Meyers Family acquired two more donkeys at a yard sale. “When we approached them, they were shaking so badly that they fell down,” he said. “That’s how scared of people they were. So, we bought them, and it just continued like that until we had about 25 donkeys in the yard.”
Meyers, who was a contractor at the time, realized that he and his wife had a problem.
“We couldn’t just keep collecting donkeys, and that’s when we founded the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue so that we had a way to place the donkeys in homes and make rules,” he said. “You can’t sell them because then you can’t make rules. But when you adopt them, we have some very definite rules.”
Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue (PVDR) rules include living in an area zoned for equines, having adequate shelter to provide a donkey, and having time to spend with the donkey.
Some 21 years have passed since the couple founded the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue nonprofit in San Angelo to provide a safe space for abused, neglected, and abandoned donkeys.
“To me, donkeys are amazing because of their sheer intelligence,” Meyers said. “They are one of the smartest animals I’ve ever encountered. They are loving, loyal, extremely protective, and act more like a dog than any other animal I’ve seen. My donkeys have protected me from wild dogs.”
To date, 2,964 donkeys are currently directly cared for by PVDR in 57 locations, and a total of 16,000 have been rescued, according to PVDR data.
“All of our donkeys go to a training program,” Meyers said. “So, they’re friendly regardless of where they came from. Some have been abused or neglected, but they all go through training, and not one donkey leaves here until they’re ready to be a pet.”
The closest donkey adoption center to Dallas is Red Oak in Ellis County, which is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
“What you have are donkeys all along the border,” Meyers added. “I just sent an email to the Arizona Department of Agriculture to help them with their donkeys. You have the U.S. Fish and Wildlife that has donkey issues and Native American reservations that have donkey issues.”
PVDR recently received a charitable contribution that Meyers plans to use to establish more adoption centers in New England and the Pacific Northwest because donkeys in Texas are all too common.
“Donkeys have no value in Texas,” he said. “People were dumping them on other people’s properties. They were dumping them in bar ditches. It was bad.”
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reports that some 14,000 wild donkeys are roaming free nationwide and another 1,000 kept in corrals.
However, there are no BLM corrals inTexas, according to Wild Horse and Burro Program Specialist Crystal Cowan.
“We do have holding pens and satellite adoptions, but we do not have any wild herds in Texas,” Cowan told Dallas Express. “Our next event in Texas is in Kerrville. We have folks fill out an application because we want to make sure individuals have thought about what it takes to care for an animal. They need a good sturdy corral to put them in as well as shelter and access to food and water. Then, when the animals are adopted out, we do compliance checks.”
Compliance checks are conducted because donkeys, like horses, are federally protected.
“We have folks that adopt these donkeys and use them for herd protection for their cattle and sheep,” Cowan said in an interview. “Donkeys are known for their instincts and they will run off coyotes, wild dogs, neighbor dogs. We have people who have adopted donkeys and used them for companion animals for older animals, or just if they want a pet donkey. I have a pet donkey.”
Even though they are federally protected, millions of donkeys are slaughtered annually to make ejiao, a gelatin produced from their skin used abroad for medicine, beauty, cosmetics, and other luxury products.
“It’s sad to hear,” Cowan said. “Donkeys do have value.”
The top three importers of ejiao are China, Hong Kong, and the United States. Annually, they import some $12,000,000 worth of ejiao, according to data provided by U.S. Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA).
“The problem with horse slaughter, which certainly holds true for donkeys as well, is oftentimes they are not bred as livestock or as animals that were raised to be food,” said Dr. Joanna Grossman, senior policy advisor, and equine program manager for the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI). “They are companion animals. They are working animals.”
Rep. Beyer introduced new legislation in the 117th session to further protect donkeys. If approved, H.R. 5203 would prohibit the sale or transport of ejiao produced from donkey skin in interstate or foreign commerce.
“Donkeys may have been overlooked for some time, but certainly, with trade and increasing scrutiny on donkey hides being used for Chinese traditional medicine purposes, there is increased awareness,” Grossman said.
Donkeys would be covered by the bi-partisan Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act if it is approved.
The SAFE Act, sponsored by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Susan Collins (R-ME), was reintroduced last month and would prohibit possessing, shipping, transporting, or purchasing any equine for the purposes of slaughter or human consumption.
“Donkeys are cute,” Cowan added. “They’re fluffy. They have long ears. There is always someone who wants a donkey to put with their livestock or someone who’s just wanting a donkey because it’s cute. You aren’t supposed to make a meal out of them.”
