Astrolabe

Caring for Beasts of Burden

Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue films donkeys in TCI.

Story & Photos By Mark S. and Amy Meyers

Donkeys never asked to be brought to the Caribbean, the Far East, Europe, or even Australia. They were quite content living in Africa. Domesticated around 5000 BCE by the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, donkeys were quickly traded throughout the civilized world, extending as far east as Japan and as far north as Scandinavia.

As in other countries around the world, donkeys played an important role in the economy of the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Donkeys first appeared in the Caribbean in 1493 on Christopher Columbus’ second voyage. They were originally brought to the island of Hispaniola—modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic—but were quickly taken to other islands. Donkeys were eventually sent over to Central and South America. In 1598 they crossed the Rio Grandé into what is today Texas with the Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate. 

Donkeys possess several traits that made them ideal for colonization. They could be transported long distances by ship with little to no visible hardship. They could (and still can) adapt to virtually any environment. Extreme heat has very little effect on them as they evolved in the deserts of Africa. They can also adapt to colder climates and higher elevations. Because their eyes are placed further back on the sides of their heads than horses, they are more surefooted, especially on mountainous terrain. Donkeys can survive five days without water, lose considerable body weight due to dehydration, and then gain it back at the next water source. Donkeys are highly intelligent, can learn multiple tasks, and served well in agriculture, mining, transportation, and the salt industry. 

Donkeys were also used during war times. They served virtually every human conflict across the globe. They were used in the transportation of wounded, resupplying of troops, and later in the support of the signal corp. Donkeys’ ability to pull carts and wagons made them extremely useful and if the route was redundant, the donkeys would often follow it repeatedly without needing to be led. Donkeys lost their usefulness after World War II when surplus army jeeps became cheap replacements. Donkeys were simply turned loose to fend for themselves. The jeeps increased productivity, which in turn, increased wealth. Eventually this led to even better equipment prosperity. In the lower 48 United States, Hawaii, Australia, and throughout the Caribbean, donkeys were left to their own devices and in many cases they thrived and became overpopulated. 

Donkeys were a common part of cultures in all parts of the world. At one point, China and Mexico had donkey populations that numbered millions. These populations became decimated with the growing popularity of a Chinese herbal remedy called Ejiao (pronounced eh-gee-yow). Ejiao is derived from collagen found in donkey hides. It is estimated that 4.8 million donkeys are killed each year to support this industry. This number is unsustainable. On February 18, 2024, the African Union voted to ban the export of all donkeys for slaughter. 

Many African countries had seen their donkey populations devastated by the hide trade. Countries like Botswana had their donkey population decreased by 70% from 2011–2021. Women and children were disproportionally affected as they were the most dependent on the donkeys to assist their daily work activities. Donkeys are a crucial part of Third World countries, especially in poverty-stricken areas where mechanized means of transportation and farming equipment are nonexistent. 

A favorite place for donkeys to congregate is at the lighthouse tourist centre on Grand Turk.

For the countries that do export donkey hides, they are slaughtered and sold in lots of 1,700–2,000 hides per cargo container. The Chinese buyers have strict requirements on the abattoirs (slaughterhouses) that must be used. As a result, small populations of donkeys, like those found on the Islands, are not worth the attention of the hide buyers. In Australia, millions of donkeys were shot from helicopters. The Australian government could find no practical way to gather the donkeys, keep them penned, process the hides, and ship them at a profit. The Australian government also killed millions of horses, camels, and water buffalo. Before the pandemic, the big news was the devastating wildfires ravaging Australia due in part to the lack of herbivores keeping the vegetation in check. (You can learn more by viewing my film at withoutavoice.movie.)

My wife Amy and I founded the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue (PVDR) in 2000. Amy had purchased a donkey, Izzy, as a companion to an old horse that we owned. Izzy was like nothing we had ever encountered. She was loving and funny and more like a big dog. Having Izzy made us more aware of other donkeys in our community—donkeys that weren’t as loving and sweet as our Izzy. Many of which had untreated medical issues.

My wife, being the compassionate soul that she is, started purchasing these donkeys and had them delivered to our little farm. The vet would be called, and I would spend my evenings sitting and talking with the donkeys. This continued until we had around 25 donkeys on our farm. That’s when I realized we needed a way to place the donkeys in homes but with rules to protect the donkeys from falling into the wrong hands. That is how Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue came into being. 

Peaceful Valley has grown from a backyard hobby into the largest equine rescue in the world, with operations in the lower 48 states, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. We operate three fully staffed Rescue/Rehabilitation facilities in Arizona, Virginia, and our Corporate Headquarters in Texas. Our Sanctuary Program houses between 1,500–2,000 donkeys on sanctuaries in Texas and Oklahoma. Our Adoption Program spans the entire country with volunteer-operated facilities in almost every state.

PVDR works with federal, state, and county agencies to control donkey populations where they are prohibited or have become a nuisance to the public. This includes national parks, military bases, nature preserves, and NASA installations. We have 60 employees based in five states and can respond to emergency calls anywhere in the United States within 24 hours. Peaceful Valley typically manages 3,000 donkeys at any given time. 

Peaceful Valley has worked with the donkeys on several islands. We’ve assisted with vaccine clinics, birth control, population assessments, and training of volunteers. We work with all of the top veterinary universities in the United States and have tremendous knowledge, experience, and resources that we can use to make the lives of donkeys better. 

Award-winning filmmaker Mark S. Meyers visited Grand Turk and Salt Cay in January 2024 to shoot the film “Donkeys of the Caribbean.”

My film partner, Mike Brown, and I are currently working on a project entitled “Donkeys of the Caribbean.” It was shot in January of 2024 and features several islands including Grand Turk and Salt Cay. We hope to have the film ready for release by the summer of 2024. You can follow the progress of the film at caribbean.movie. The goal of the film is to highlight the different challenges that donkeys face on the various islands throughout the Caribbean. We hope to draw attention to these challenges so that more resources can be brought in to improve their plight. At Peaceful Valley we have a saying, “Either all donkeys matter, or none of them do.”

Mark S. Meyers is the co-founder and executive director of the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue. Mark is a professional photographer with dozens of his photographs published in national magazines, an award-winning filmmaker, and an author with six books to his credit. He has been featured both nationally and internationally in print news, television, radio, podcasts, and appeared in National Geographic. Mark was honored to be a 2019 CNN Top Ten Hero. 



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Tucked at the northeast corner of North Caicos is Greenwich Channel, formed at the northern tip of Bottle Creek by the convergence of Horsestable Beach and Bay Cay. By using a drone Master/Craftsman Photographer James Roy of Paradise Photography (www.myparadisephoto.com) was able to capture this dramatic abstract image. The shallow water and shifting sandbars and channels create surreal natural art in many hues of turquoise and green.

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