Thursday, March 24, 2016

Castration Donations Needed!

March 29th, we have 12 males (11 donkeys and 1 horse) being gelded and as the old wives tale says, "raising their IQ".  As the boys say, "OUCH!"

There is more work involved in castrating donkeys then there is with horses because they tend to bleed more and we have been given discounted pricing to help get them all done by wonderful and experienced veterinarians.  Extra ligating and stitches are needed for the donkeys to ensure proper closure, reduced bleeding and better healing.  
Chancer now 9 months old
Our fundraising goal is $2500.   Dr. Kari Christianson will be castrating Avery and Chancer here at our facility in Snowflake and Dr. Mike Hutchison* will do our other 10 donkeys (part of the Naco 19*) while at our rescue partner Equine Voices Rescue & Sanctuary* in Green Valley where they will stay till we transport them to the Snowflake ranch hopefully April 4th.  We thank them all so much for their participation in this very important project.  
Naco 19 rescued from slaughter auction in late Feb
We really need everyone's help.  $5, $10, $20 or more, every donation will help prevent breeding and allow us to eventually adopt them out to great homes.

To donate using a credit card or via PayPal just click here:



Checks can be mailed to EqWBR, PO Box 2722, Snowflake, AZ  85937

We are a 501c3 non-profit and donations are tax-deductible.   Please help by donating and sharing this need with your friends, they may want to help too! 

Thank you all so very, very much!
Avery - 11 months old
Avery is sticking his tongue out to let you know just how he feels about the whole thing!
Christine
Founder/President
760-703-4860

* Dr, Mike Hutchison, Equine Voices Rescue & Sanctuary and Equine WellBeing Rescue are also on the board of directors of the Arizona Coalition for Equines.    

Article link on the NACO 19 joint rescue efforts 

Link about Donkey castration






Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Dunnie & Katniss need our help!

Saying, "yes", can be life changing for a family. With the pending influx of donkeys coming to the rescue in April, I have responded to many phone calls for help by networking to find homes for horses and a few times coordinated with other rescues to help.

However, a local family has been struggling for a while now and their efforts to rehome their horses simply were not successful. We all know how long-term illness can affect a family and needed changes are not always easy, especially when it comes to losing a pet family member that has been with you for more than a decade.

Meet Dunnie & Katniss.


Dunnie
Katniss

In the last few months we provided hay in exchange for some volunteer time helping feed and doing chores at the rescue while the family advertised and tried to find good homes for the horses. Those efforts were not fruitful and funds are pinched too tight, so we offered to take both mares. Many tears were shed, but knowing the horses needs will be met makes the sorrow a little easier to bear. We brought them here yesterday with the help of friends Teri and Taylor and I thank them very much for taking time out of their day to do it. 

Dunnie is a 13 year old Grullo colored mare with lameness issues in her hind end and rear hooves that have grown abnormally for many years.  Lack of funds to provide regular trims have added to that problem. Her lameness initially appeared worse than we now think it is, to the point that we even discussed humane euthanasia.  
It is a little hard to see, but she turns her legs outwards when she stands, tucks her legs underneath herself and takes very short steps when she walks. Her hooves grow with an outward angle, were over long and flared. She has only been ridden bareback over the years and at age 13, a non-rideable, lame horse is very difficult to find a home for.  We have our work cut out for us.

Luckily we were able to get the farrier over here yesterday and immediately started to address her feet. She had deep thrush in all four feet, some dried blood indicating possible mild founder in the last year, deep soles that were like plastic and her heels have collapsed. This abnormal growth causes her awkward stance and pain. We put her on a 4 week schedule for consistent correction in hopes that her muscular-skeletal system can reset itself as the feet are corrected and she will no longer be lame.
Hoof rehab can take quite a long time and we definitely want to give her that chance. As a yearling she was saved from a hoarding situation at a local ranch that had hundreds of horses they could no longer feed. A huge percentage of those horses perished, but she was one of the lucky ones to survive. She had a rough start to life, a recent bump in the road due to family health issues and now her well-being is in our hands. 

In addition to the immediate hoof care, we started her on herbs and supplements to help deal with any pain issues, and to help rebuild healthy feet.  We used essential oils yesterday and found her responsive so we will continue their use too. Good diet, supplements, herbs, oils and TLC should all help her through this recovery.   

We are looking for monthly sponsors for her feed and care. $20 a month will cover her herbs, $20 a month will cover her supplements (Enrich Plus), $30 a month will cover her hoof trims, $100 for hay and general care. If you can help with a monthly donation, it can be done by clicking this link for PayPal and checking the "recurring (monthly)" box or sending a check each month.  Some financial institutions will allow people to set up recurring payments and they will send a check directly to us in the mail.  Both are great ways to help. Truly any donation is greatly appreciated. 




Her pasture mate, Katniss is a cute 4 year old paint mare that came off the Navajo reservation last year. Katniss has a little training and would be considered very green broke. Our friend Teri is going to assess her and provide the appropriate training for her age so and provide her health care needs. She loaded in the trailer with no fuss and did great for the farrier too.  With Teri and Taylor's help she has a very bright future ahead.
I had a tearful conversation with their prior owner this afternoon when she called to thank us for helping their family in this time of need. It had come to a point of putting food on their table or feeding the horses and as much as they are heartbroken they could no longer keep them, they are relieved to know they are in good hands.

We will keep everyone up to date on their progress and thank you all for your continued support and donations. Without your help we simply couldn't help families in need and believe me helping Dunnie and Katniss is life-changing for both the horses and their former family.

Thank you, thank yo, so very much!

Christine
Founder & President

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Mini & Small donkeys need homes!



Who couldn't love a face like that?

Equine WellBeing Rescue in Snowflake, AZ will receive at least 10 mini jennets (females) the end of March saved from a bad hoarding situation in TX.  Poor innocents will need homes.  We will be gentling these previously unhandled donkeys before adoption and through that process will be able to determine their personalities to match with the right adopter. Details on how to adopt are at the bottom of this post. There is a likelihood they maybe in foal so homes with equine experience will be needed. Huge thanks to Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue for saving their lives, undertaking this huge endeavor and letting us help in the process.
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Standard donkeys needing loving homes.


Called the "Naco 19", these sweet, sweet male donkeys were saved from going to slaughter on Feb. 25th when several rescues and donors networked together to save them all. They are all gentle, most were wearing halters and had been trained to follow each other tied tail to halter of the following donkey to make a string of donkeys. 10 of them will be coming to EqWBR in April and will be available for adoption. In the meantime they are all getting vetted and castrated.  If you are interested in adopting please see the instructions at the bottom.    Click to read the news article about the Naco 19
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Saved from TX killpens - Mini and Standard donkeys need forever homes. 


Turning Pointe Donkey Rescue headed the effort to save dozens of mini and standard donkeys from being put on slaughter bound trucks to Mexico. These are but a few of the many, many donkeys that need homes.  EqWBR will be receiving 9, possibly more in early April and want to find them loving forever homes.  Aren't they so very, very cute. Both jennies (females) and johns (gelded males) will be available.  Assessments will be done on arrival to ensure the right fit of donkey to adopter.

TO ADOPT A DONKEY FROM EqWBR please send us an email message at Christine@EquineWellBeing.Com.   We will be processing applications and approving adopters prior to their arrival so contact us asap.    While small and cute, these are still donkeys and not toys and need to be respected as such.

Adoption fee $150-$400.