Archibald

Archibald is one of the Triple AAA burros with Alice & Agnes.  Along with the 5 Amigos, these elderly burros were rounded up from the same herd on the Nevada range in December of 2021. Archie ended up with the two jennies at the BLM Burns corrals, where they stayed very close together.

When we went to look at the burros, there were more than a dozen of them together at the corrals. We didn’t know which were the three senior we would be taking. One large john with bushy eyebrows made steady eye contact with us and his penetrating gaze stayed in our minds. When we returned to pick them up, we were so happy to see that he was one of the three. This was our Archibald.

Being a donkey, thoughtful and intelligent, Archie stopped in is tracks in the loading chute to assess the situation before getting into the trailer. BLM staff pushed him in to speed things along. The jennies followed right behind. At Skydog, we opened the trailer door and let them make up their minds about taking that leap of faith into their new home. It was only matter of seconds before Archibald made the decision to lead his ladies out the door and up the hill to the trees of their roomy enclosure.

The tip of his right ear is missing and his coat has interesting markings in black and grey. He is the bravest of Triple AAAs and came closer to humans than the others at feeding time. After all they’d suffered, they really didn’t like people and we respected their need for distance. Once we were sure the jennies were not pregnant, we set them all free on rugged terrain with the main donkey herd.

2022 was a hideous year for wild burros with violent roundups that continue today. We decided to shine a spotlight on how beautiful and intelligent these undervalued animals are by creating an account for burros on Instagram. Archibald, Alice, and Agnes were the first we rescued that year to launch @skydogdonkeys, followed immediately by their herdmates, the 5 Amigos.

#skydogarchibald

Mustangs and burros need your help 

In addition to supporting our work by donating, becoming a patron on Patreon or sponsoring a Skydog, there are several important pieces of legislation to protect American equines currently moving through Congress. It only takes a few minutes to contact your Rep and Senators and urge them to support these bills:

Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2023 (H.R. 3475 in the House / S.2307 in the Senate). This bill will shut down the slaughter pipeline that sends some 20,000 American horses and donkeys to savagely monstrous deaths in foreign slaughterhouses every year.

The Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act of 2023 (H. R. 3656) This bill will prohibit the use of helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft in the management of wild mustangs and burros on public lands, and require a report on humane alternatives to current management practices.

Ejiao Act of 2023 (H.R. 6021). To ​​ban the sale or transportation of ejiao, a gelatin made from boiling donkey skins, or products containing ejiao in interstate or foreign commerce, which brutally kills millions of donkeys primarily for beauty products and Chinese medicine.

You can Contact Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121‬, submitting contact forms on their individual websites, or sending one email to all three simultaneously at www.democracy.io

See our How to Help menu for other actions to ban zebra hunting at US canned hunt ranches, stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs, and defund the Adoption Incentive Program.