TOPSHAM — Heather Archer couldn’t ignore the Facebook plea. Or the photo that went with it.

A sick, elderly donkey was in a Texas kill pen, destined to become food in Mexico if someone else didn’t buy her first. She needed a new home and she needed it fast.

Archer grew up loving horses but never gave donkeys a lot of thought before. Although she wanted to save the animal, Archer didn’t think she’d survive the trip to Maine.

She worked with a network of Facebook friends to help the donkey find a new home — “Me just begging strangers to take a donkey,” she said. Their efforts worked. The donkey was moved to Louisiana.

Soon after there was another plea and another photo, this one of a deathly skinny donkey also bound for out-of-country slaughter. Archer networked to help find her a new home, too. 

“Then somebody in Texas contacted me and said I know where there’s 80 donkeys,” Archer said.

The next thing Archer knew, she had nearly three dozen animals on two trailers headed to new homes in New Hampshire and Maine. Including hers.

“I love them. They’re crazy. They’re just funny,” she said as three baby donkeys mobbed her for attention, one chewing the zipper of her jacket. “After years of horses they’re interesting, they’re entertaining. They have different personalities.”

Today, Archer is the proud owner of 6-month-old Merlin (“He’s very timid.”) and 7- or 8-month old Moses (“He nibbles. And kicks.”).

“He’s like, ‘I’m such a good donkey! I’m so sweet!’ Then in the morning, if I’m late with breakfast, he threatens to kick me,” Archer said, petting his head.

She also cares for 6-month-old Elton, whose adoptive family is spending the winter in Florida.

Archer, 40, never expected to become a donkey rescuer. Married, with four children and a job with a medical device manufacturer, she had a busy enough life as it was.

But in December, Archer put the word out: She knew of donkeys who needed new homes. Old donkeys, neglected donkeys, babies separated from their mothers. She could buy them from the Texas kill pen and bring them up if they had a home to go to. Did anyone want to adopt a donkey?

“I just posted on Facebook. I said if I could save five, I’d be happy,” Archer said. 

She found families for five. And more. To keep everyone up to date, she created the Maine Donkeys for Christmas Facebook page.

“People just kept contacting me,” she said.

By the time the trailers were set to leave Texas, she had homes set for 34 donkeys. Their new families each paid a share of the trucking expense, plus the cost to buy the animal out of the kill pen— a total of $465 to $510 each.

When the trucks arrive, Archer found a surprise: a 35th donkey. 

“One just slipped through. Nobody knows how he got in,” Archer said.

She found him a home with a rescue group in Maine.

Two baby donkeys died after getting to Maine, one soon after arriving. The other, Tim, was Elton’s adopted brother, and Archer was watching him, too. He’d been battling a painful, systemic infection that Archer’s vet couldn’t get under control, even with the strongest antibiotics. He died last week. 

Thirty-three other rescue donkeys have survived — and thrived. Eight went to homes in New Hampshire. The rest went to people throughout Maine.

Archer adopted two babies of her own and agreed to care for Elton and Tim over the winter. She converted her children’s fenced-in playground into a small paddock.

The donkeys arrived scared. 

“They all hid in the corner for three or four days,” Archer said. 

It took weeks for them to become comfortable with Archer and her family. Even then, they were skittish of the hay container, her children’s playground ball, a piece of wood on the ground. 

“They all looked at it. They all stepped back and looked at it for 20 minutes. No one wanted to go near it,” Archer said. 

Although donkeys have a reputation for being stubborn, Archer believes they just like to take their time to consider all possible ramifications.

“They think. They’re not going to do anything unless they’re confident it’s not going to kill them,” she said.

The donkeys have settled into life in Topsham. They like playing with Archer’s children. They often linger in the paddock, where they draw attention from passers-by who have never seen a donkey in Maine.

“I’ve had people stop and say, ‘What are these?'” Archer said.

Although she grew up loving horses, Archer has quickly fallen for donkeys.

“It’s actually really fun,” she said. “It’s a lot easier than horses. You know, they’re really straightforward. I know what they don’t like. I know what scares them. I know what they can tolerate.”

Archer hopes to organize another rescue run this spring.

“I hate to say it, there’s never not donkeys down in the kill pens,” she said.

Have an idea for Animal Tales? Call Lindsay Tice at 689-2854 or email her at ltice@sunjournal.com.

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