Name: Titto

    Type: Donkey

    Color: Grey

      Markings: None

    Sex: Gelding

    Birthday: 1/1/2016

Titto had a very rough start in life. His mom was owned by a lady who had a mental illness – hoarding. She lived in a broken down camper with no running water or electricity on an acreage barren of any type of forage or grass. Donkeys don’t need much, but there was literally nothing for them to eat. Unfortunately, little Titto had been born there and suffered, along with the rest of his herd, from neglect and starvation. Enter a wonderful group of ladies in Oklahoma called the Circle of Friends. Although they don’t themselves own a physical rescue, they have helped many animals get out of bad situations. They reached out and advised us of the plight of this small herd. 

Many of the jennies were pregnant since they ran with a miniature donkey jack (Buddy – whom we suspect is the father of most of the foals in this herd). After several weeks of intense negotiation with the owner, she was convinced to turn them over, and we promptly had the entire herd, including little Titto, picked up and taken to safety. They were all in horrible shape and required several months of rehab and vet care. Plus – the pregnant jennies were due to foal, so it was a race against time to get them healthy enough to safely give birth. Eventually, all of the foals were born and arrangements were made to bring the entire group to the Sanctuary.

Despite the odds stacked against him, Titto had thrived and grown into quite a large donkey with beautiful markings and a stunning cross on his back. Mr. Titto is a good equine citizen and is cooperative with our staff when he’s being groomed or having his feet trimmed. He is also a clown, and entertains us every day with his antics! He is often found “sitting” like a dog, wrestles and mock fights with his friends Tucker and Thomas, and generally has his nose into everything going on at our Longears Lodge barn! Titto has come a long way from the half-starved, wormy baby we rescued, and has grown up into a very handsome and charming donkey. 

    Name: Pops

    Type: Horse

    Color: Chestnut

      Markings: Blaze, 2 stockings, sock 

    Sex: Gelding

    Birthday: 1/1/2002

Pops was seized as part of a law enforcement abuse case that was one of the most horrific we’ve ever seen. Along with over two dozen other equines, he was seized from a place that was literally a graveyard for unfortunate equines. The person responsible for this has been charged with felony animal abuse. 

Our vet, who was involved in having the horses seized, asked Red Bell Run to take Pops in as part of a group of four critically ill equines, because she felt he was so critically starved that he would need her constant attention. That could best be done at Red Bell Run since she is here several days a week caring for our other equines.

Pop’s condition when he came to Red Bell Run was heartbreaking. He was literally a skeleton covered with hair. There is a scale that veterinarians use to determine an equine’s body condition. A score of ‘1’ means that the horse is skeletal with no underlying fat and is in danger of dying from starvation. Pops was a score of ‘1’ when he came to us. Pops was so starved that the area surrounding his heart didn’t have enough fat or muscle to hold the heart properly in place. This is why many starvation cases like Pops have severe heart murmurs. Sometimes with proper diet, these heart murmurs resolve – and sometimes they don’t. We were extremely careful with Pops’ diet and today the heart murmur is barely discernable although his heart muscle probably sustained some damage. The body feeds on itself (including muscles like the heart) when there is no other source of nutrition.

As much as we wanted to just give Pops as much hay and Senior feed as he wanted, we couldn’t. Suddenly feeding a starved animal a lot of food can kill them because it causes a cascade of events that can shut down their organs. The body has to get used to having food again – and that means 6 to 8 small meals a day, very gradually increasing the amount of food each time until they have a chance to recover and begin processing nutrients properly. I will tell you that it is one of the most heartbreaking parts of rescue to have a starved animal, begging for more food and knowing that you have to deny them because you could kill them. Pops endured six weeks of slowly building up his tolerance for food. Now he is happily munching on hay, fresh grass and Senior feed to his heart’s content!

In addition, Pops was suffering from a severe case of rain rot, an infection of the skin caused by lack of nutrition and care with no protection from the elements. The condition can be extremely painful to treat because the fungus wraps around the hair shaft. In Pops’ case this meant hours of separating the small hairs from the sticky fungus, washing him with special shampoo and gently removing what we could so that his skin had a chance to heal. He was always a gentleman about it, and today has a beautiful shiny coat.

Along with the rest of his body, Pops’ hooves were infected. He was so weak, though, that we couldn’t lift a foot to treat the infection because he would fall down. Gradually, over a period of several weeks we were able to treat his feet as he became strong enough to pick them up for us. The black, smelly infection is finally gone and Pops now has his feet trimmed every six weeks and we keep a careful eye to make sure the infection doesn’t return.

This is what we help equines do – overcome the neglect and abuse that they endure through no fault of their own. From a Body Condition Score of ‘1’, so weak he couldn’t pick up a foot to have his hooves cleaned, to a gorgeous chestnut Quarter Horse who is eager to greet visitors and happy for attention, Pops has shown that with help, these beautiful animals are survivors. 

    Name: Ellis

    Type: Standard Donkey

    Color: White

    Markings: None

    Sex: Gelding

    Birthday: 1/1/2017

    Name: Elinor

    Type: Standard Donkey

    Color: Roan

    Markings: None

    Sex: Mare

    Birthday: 1/1/2008

Elinor and Ellis are the epitome of a loving relationship between a son and his mother. Part of an effort to save a larger group of several very neglected donkeys, the Ark Watch Foundation and Turning Pointe Donkey Rescue asked Red Bell Run to take Elinor and Ellis, an older jenny and her newborn white baby jack. The idea was that the pair weren’t in as poor condition as some of the others, but it turned out that Elinor and little Ellis were quite ill with pneumonia. The pair were under the care of Dr. Sutherland at Reata Equine Clinic in Texas for several months, and there were several times when we were told that little Ellis was on the edge of death. However, each time he managed to rally, and today has grown into a beautiful white donkey who adores his mother!

They are rarely seen apart although Ellis will now go and play with the other young gelding in the Longears Lounge barn, but they share a very close bond. When Elinor’s age and arthritis prevented her from going down into the lower area we call the “Donkey Woods”, Ellis, too remained behind, not willing to leave his mom. Elinor stays up in the large dry lots by the Longears barns with other members of our herd who have medical issues or are in the geriatric group that stays where our staff can keep an eye on them throughout the day. Ellis is quite happy to keep Elinor company and Elinor is very tolerant of her “grown up” child.

Ellis is an unusual color in the donkey world, being white, and his skin, especially his nose, must be protected from the sun. Because of this, he is regularly checked for any sign of sunburn or irritation around his eyes. He will require consistent observation since donkeys with his skin color (pink) are prone to developing cancer. His personality is a bit mischievous, but overall, he’s quite engaging and loves to greet people on tours! 

    Name: Charlie

    Type: Standard Donkey

    Color: Grey Dun; No White Point 

    Markings: None 

    Sex: Gelding

    Birthday: 12/30/2016

On February 23, 2017, two extremely pregnant jennies had the misfortune of ending up in the Bowie, TX kill pen. Celine Myers of the Ark Watch Foundation immediately purchased them and sent them to the Reata Equine Hospital in Weatherford, TX for evaluation and treatment. Celine named the two Moms-to-be Louise and Charlene. They were large standard jennies, probably related to each other and both appeared to be heavy-bred. The girls settled into a daily routine at Reata while we waited for their foals to be born. Sadly, it turned out that Louise’s foal had died in utero and the poor girl didn’t survive the surgery to remove the fetus. This was a very sad time for Charlene. She had lost her long-time friend and was now left along in her stall awaiting the birth of her foal. About either weeks later, Charlene went into labor in the middle of the night. The vet who lived onsite came running to assist Charlene with the birth. The foal was so large that his shoulder got stuck in the birth canal. The vet had to free the enormous foal and then help to guide him through the remainder of the birth process. Had Charlene not been in a vet clinic where she could receive immediate medical attention, we most certainly would have lost both Charlene and her foal!

Celine named Charlene’s foal “Charlie”. As Charlie grew, it became apparent that his sire had been a Mammoth jack donkey. By the time he was just four months old, Charlie was enormous! After he was castrated and had made a full recovery from his surgery, Charlie and Charlene boarded the Equine Express trailer and headed for their new home at The Sanctuary at Red Bell Run. The pair integrated into the Sanctuary’s “donkey herd” right away. They knew many of the other donkeys from their stay at the Reata Clinic. Beverly, Bettina, Eleanor, Ellis, Phinneas, Amanda and Tigger had all been housed at the Reata Clinic. This made the transition from clinic to sanctuary much easier on the entire group. Sadly, several months later, Charlene exhibited signs of colic. The vets at Tryon Equine tried to save her but, unfortunately, Charlene went into shock and we had to say a painful “good-bye” to her. Poor Charlie was brought back home to Red Bell Run and stood in the middle of his pasture, calling out for his Mom, who, sadly, could not answer…

However, there was one jenny in the herd who did not have a foal. Amanda was an Ark Watch rescue who came in as a single jenny. She knew Charlie from Reata Clinic and in less than one day Amanda was standing with Charlie, comforting him over the loss of his mother. Amanda was partnered with an older male donkey, Phinneas, (who had lost his mate, Phoebe) while the pair was at the Reata Clinic, and now Charlie was part of their little family group. In time, Charlie’s heart seemed to heal and he remained quite attached to Amanda and Phinneas for several years. Amanda and Phinneas have now crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but it was wonderful to see the strong bonds that formed out of such tragedy in the lives of these three feedlot refugees. Today Charlie is known as “Charlie the Hugger” because he loves to lay his head on your shoulder and press his cheek to yours. He’s very well-adjusted and has many friends in the Longears Lodge Herd at Red Bell Run.  

    Name: Lou Lou Willette

    Type: Standard Donkey

    Color: Brown

    Markings: None

    Sex: Mare

    Birthday: 1/1/2017

Don’t let the adorably sweet face fool you! Little Lou Lou Willette (named after the granddaughter of a good friend of Red Bell Run’s founder) is quite the mischief maker! She is the foal of an older jenny named Leah who is also at Red Bell Run. Her story began when her mom Leah was rescued from a hoarding case in Oklahoma. Leah and a group of older jennies were housed on several acres of barren land with no care.

They were running with a miniature jack named Buddy who was busily trying to populate the world with more donkeys! Unfortunately, because of the lack of care and the unwillingness of the person who had them to accept help or give them up, Leah and her friends were in bad shape, and certainly in no position to be having foals. Mary Adams had conversations with the owner over several weeks and convinced her that the donkeys needed to be taken to a place where they could be cared for and have their babies safely. Once the donkeys were safe, Mr. Buddy was gelded much to his dismay and probably to the relief of the herd of jennies since jacks can truly be pests! The jennies were placed on a refeeding protocol, received much needed farrier and veterinary care and fortunately all were saved. Lou Lou Willette was born in due course and came with her mom Leah and the rest of the little herd to Red Bell Run.

Now to the part of our little mischief maker – Lou Lou Willette has quite the spicy personality and isn’t above pushing those in her way to the side if she thinks a treat might be available. She knows what she wants and has no qualms about going to get it – whether it’s a treat, being petted by staff or  visitors or just showing her herd mates who’s boss! She loves her mom Leah, and mother and daughter are usually found close to each other. Today Lou Lou Willette and the other foals (now grown) born to the Oklahoma Hoarding Herd happily play and laze their days away at the Longears Lodge at Red Bell Run. 

    Name: Tigger

    Type: Miniature Donkey

    Color: Pinto

    Markings: Spotted 

    Sex: Gelding

    Birthday: 1/1/2017

In June of 2017, Celine Myers of the Ark Watch Foundation was contacted by Tia Bonkowski of Turning Pointe Donkey Rescue regarding a spotted mini donkey at the Bowie, TX kill pen. Someone had seen a little donkey literally gasping for air and reached out to Tia. Tia, knowing time was of the essence if the little guy was to be saved, promptly phoned Celine. Supposedly, the little donkey was a 2 year old gelding. As is often the case, the people at the kill pen had lied. It turned out that the poor little guy was only about 3 months old, although we didn’t know that at the time. Celine named the small donkey “Tigger” after the character in the Winnie the Pooh novel. We suspect that Tigger had been taken from his mom at just a few weeks of age and sold as a “bottle baby” for someone to raise. Tigger would beat the odds as donkey bottle babies rarely survive.

Celine suspected that he had very advanced pneumonia and to make matters worse, the outside air temperature that day in Bowie, TX was 105 degrees with very high humidity. At that point it was uncertain if Tigger would even make it to the clinic. Celine knew that without immediate intervention, the little donkey was going to die a slow, painful death. Kara Tunnicliff Schardt of the Circle of Friends Rescue in Oklahoma paid the $130 fee to get him released, and Celine sprang into action, having him immediately hauled to the Reata Equine Clinic in Weatherford, TX. He made it but arrived wild and unhandleable and quite frightened of people. Who could blame him, given the rough start he’d had in life!? This wasn’t good – he was already very ill and additional stress might kill him.

Tigger was gasping for air and the vet could hear crackles and wheezes in his lungs. She knew that Tigger had advanced pneumonia and started him on a powerful cocktail of antibiotics hoping he would quickly respond to the treatment. As the days passed, Tigger had several challenges to overcome. Metronidazole suppressed his appetite and the vet staff had to figure out a way to get food into Tigger since he had to have the metronidazole. The hospital staff realized that Tigger would not eat his hay at the front of his stall but he would eat at the back of it. This was an extremely important observation since he needed to eat! This aversion to being near the stall door was likely due to the fact that Tigger wanted to be far from the point where people were entering his space when he put his head down. To an equine foal, humans are just enormous predatory cats who walk on their hind legs and are looking to kill for their next meal! Poor little Tigger had not been with his mom long enough for her to teach him the ways of the world, what was safe and what wasn’t.

Against the odds, and due to the intensive vet care he received, Tigger’s pneumonia resolved. He was able to be slowly dewormed and vaccinated. Just as Tigger was due to come to Red Bell Run, the vet discovered that Tigger’s testicles were dropping! That’s when we found out he was not two years old, but more likely two or three months old, when he was rescued. Eventually, Tigger was castrated, and once recovered he travelled to Red Bell Run with Amanda and Phinneas, two older donkeys that he was familiar with from the clinic. Initially, Tigger stuck close to Amanda and Phinneas, but quickly made several friends and now spends his days sparring with these playmates, enjoying the safety and security a herd provides. It was a very rough start for Tigger but thanks to the efforts of all involved, he is healthy and enjoying life at the Longears Lodge at Red Bell Run!