One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Rescue Airlifts Unwanted Donkeys From Lava Flows of Hawaii to Mountains of Tehachapi
Photo by MOSCHEN via Shutterstock
Once upon a time, donkeys were beasts of burden that carried sugar cane, coffee and other crops on Hawaii's Big Island. Then Jeeps leftover from World World II put the beasts out to pasture, and the wild, braying donkeys were dubbed "Kona Nightingales."
This was fine until the tourism industry on the island overtook agriculture, and the creatures were seen as a nuisance. They broke fences, ate the landscape and ran into the roads, where they were hit by cars.
That's where Mark and Amy Meyers stepped in. The couple started taking in abandoned or abused donkeys, until their stalls started filling up. That's when they started up a nonprofit rescue group Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue that works on finding homes for unwanted donkeys, according to a profile of the nonprofit's work in the Los Angeles Times.
Yesterday, the Meyers airlifted 120 donkeys from Hawaii to the mountains of Tehachapi and Times reporter Catherine Saillant was there when the Meyers escorted the donkeys to their new home:
Mark Meyers hasn't slept for more than a day and his back is killing him, but he still has to wrangle a donkey who refuses to exit its horse trailer after a 2,500-mile flight from Kona, Hawaii. Dozens more wait behind it. So Meyers pops an 800-milligram ibuprofen and gets down to work. First he starts pushing, but then he tries sweet-talking the beast. "Come on, girl!" he says. "Come and see your new home!"
Finally the jenny clambers down. She lifts her gray head and begins braying loudly. Immediately, hundreds of other donkeys join in, creating a discordant chorus that breaks the morning stillness in this scrubby mountain valley.
"That's it!" Meyers booms. "Way to be a leader."
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
