Earlier today Pokey a 2+ yr old donkey almost died when her lead rope became entangled with a rose of sharon bush. The lead rope was wrapped around the bush several times. She had fallen over on her side with her head turned under her with her head facing her rear. If not for the braying of her mother her condition might have gone on unnoticed for some time. But upon discovery Paul quickly cut her nylon halter with a pocket knife and freed her. We were only less than 50 feet away from her, burning some brush left over from last Falls clear cutting. Our vision of her was blocked by the brush piles left by the loggers. We have about a 4 acre area fenced in for them that they normally stay in ,but they love to get out and eat fresh grass and browse. The reason we have to curtail them now is because we let our son and his wife move a trailer in out here and they really don't appreciate hoof prints or donkey doo around their place. I just wanted to alert the rest of you who have critters and have to stake them out from time to time how dangerous it can be. I am so thankful she is ok! I am also thankful Paul always carries his pocketknife, as I will from now on as well! We intend to get the rest of our acres fenced so the girls can run freely and not get on our son's place as soon as we can, but for the time being no more tethering will we do around here.

-- teresa (padsr@centurytel.net), May 04, 2002

Answers

I'm so glad your little donkey is OK. Good thing you were nearby. I had read that tethering can be dangerous but had never heard of anyone actually having a problem. Good luck getting that fence up and have fun with your animals. Blessings, Kathy

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), May 04, 2002.

Thanks Kathy, Pokey seems to be just fine. I have never heard of problems with tethering animals before. I guess I was not paying attention or something but I would hate this to happen to anyone else. She was in such a position that she was fighting just to breathe and was not able to cry out for help. I'm thankful she's ok too!!

-- teresa (padsr@centurytel.net), May 04, 2002.

The only animal I've ever wanted that I haven't gotten is a donkey. For the last 20 years I've hinted that a donkey or two would sure be a nice mothers day present. Oh well, one of these days I guess I'll just buy them for myself. Sometimes hinting isn't enough. Are they difficult to take care of? I've got the books on raising donkeys but you know sometimes the books make things seem harder than they really are in life. I have about 15 acres of pasture but it is hilly, is that a problem for donkeys? We're in southern KY and there's alot of horses being raised on hills so I was just wondering. I fell in love with donkeys when I visited the South Dakota Black Hills area and the free roaming donkeys with their young came right up for treats. We had carrots for our picnic but they were such sweet creatures we ended up giving them the carrots.:) Blessings, Kathy

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), May 04, 2002.

Teresa, I am SO glad your donkey is okay! We had a totally different near-disaster with our donkey last week. Molly is blind, and tends to act up for the farrier. I tied her just a few minutes before her appointment, so she would have a little while to get herself together first. Well, while she was tied, one of our holstein steers came up and mounted her! She couldn't get away, and was collapsing under him, while I yelled & waved a stick at the cow and tried to yank Molly's safety knot loose. I just knew I was going to hear her spine snap. He's a huge steer, and she's a little donkey. Finally, I was able to chase the cow away. Molly was shaky and sore for a couple days, but she is okay now. So, there is an altogether different reason NOT to tether!

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), May 04, 2002.

Teresa,

Very glad your donkey is ok. Try using tether line (rope or chain) run through an old garden hose - they don't get tangled up then. Good thing you were so close! Good luck with the donkeys!

-- Debbie in Il (ddjmck@mynex.net), May 04, 2002.

I wasn't so lucky, I tied my billy goat for a few minutes, and he got his collar over a 5 inch high sapling stump , flipped over, and made a tourniqut of his collar. It was only minutes, but I couldn"t save him.

-- Elizabeth Quintana (rockshelter@webtv.com), May 04, 2002.

I think being tethered is a learned skill for animals. Last year when my horse came home and I was teaching her to tie, the first time she pulled, freaked out and landed on her butt. The second time she seemed to be doing okay with it so I took a quick potty break. Whe I came back, she was flipped over and thrashing. I was glad my knot slipped enough to keep her from hanging herself.

I won't tie her anymore to anything but a tie line. I usually just let her drag her lead rope around when she is loose and she can cope with that pretty well, but she is never unsupervised when she has a halter on, not even for potty breaks.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), May 04, 2002.

Leaving a halter on your livestock can be just as deadly as tethering. I know of quite a few critters that have died from both.

One was found dead with his hind foot in the halter. It's surmised that he was scratching his neck, the hoof got caught in the halter, and he thrashed until he choked and died.

Another death was the halter catching on a bathtub faucet. The tub was used as a waterer.

Many deaths have come from the halter catching on fence posts. Others have come from the junk laying around the area that the owners were too lazy to clean up....such as old vehicles, implements, etc.

And those breakaway halters? They don't always break!

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), May 04, 2002.

Thanks for the advice on halters Rogo--- I only put their halters on them when I let them out of their pastured area to make it a little easier to lead them around. I find if they wear them too often or too long at any one time it tends to rub the hair off their faces. I don't like that and I imagine that they don't either. I am really grateful for this forum to be able to communicate with like minded folks for the love and care of our homes and critters. Kathy, donks are so loving and affectionate. They are not difficult to care for at all. They are very hardy animals, I think much like a goat. I worm the girls Spring and Fall just as I do the goats. I do get blood pulled on them every year to make sure they are negative for coggins, and at the same time they get their shots along with a vaccine for the West Nile virus. They so much love to be brushed and talked to. They really seem to enjoy browse and grass more than a diet of just grass alone. They adore honeysuckle. They are the sweetest animals we have ever had the pleasure of caring for. Shannon - I'm glad Molly is OK too, I never would have thought a steer would do that! Our only experience with bovines was a Jersey we had and she was a big pet. Our farrier is a kinda short guy which I think helps alot and the girls don't act up either I guess they are used to me handling them alot all over. As far as tethering my girls, I will never ever do it again. It is just too dangerous. I will also now carry my pocket knife with me every where I go instead of leaving it in my purse. I don't believe it would have made any difference at all if the nylon rope had of been run through a water hose. I had just walked past her not more than 10 minutes prior for a bathroom break. She walked out towards me to be loved on and the last 6 to 8 feet of the rope got twisted around a rose of sharon bush and I can only guess that she slipped and fell. She is really enjoying all the extra attention from the accident though--Lots of carrots with an apple or 2 thrown in for good measure.

-- teresa (padsr@centurytel.net), May 05, 2002.

this was said by someone else, but please remember to not leave anything around the neck of any animal , if they arent gentel enough to be handled without it , then spend the time with them till they are our llama has a SCAR around his neck from , i dont know what, maybe a rope or a dog collar, that grew into his neck... hes only two , so it may have been put on when he was still growing and forgotten about...

-- Beth in ND (famvan@drtel.net), May 07, 2002.

I totally agree with Rogo, halters are an accident waiting to happen. We never leave halters on our horses, even when they are in the 3 acre pen. Also, one relative tied his three year old filly to a fence to teach her patience, she pitched a fit and flipped around and broke her neck. This happened so quickly, he couldn't get to her in time. You just never know what a desperate animal will try.

-- cowgirlone in ok (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), May 07, 2002.

I'm glad you were there to rescue your jenney. I agree with the break away plastic link collars for goats. My girls are wonderfully tame and easy to handle but sometimes, you just need to hold on for a second to check that funny spot on a hind leg as you toss them hay. Having a "safe" collar saves running back to the barn to get a lead or such. When it comes to horses, if you must use a halter when they are unattended, I feel that a leather halte is best. They hold up very well with a little care- and unlike the common nylon jobs, will give if the horse gets in a jam. The "break-away" styles they sell are just too flimsy IMO. --Donna

-- Donna in RI (canaani@cox.net), May 10, 2002.