Lusco Farms Rescue: Tractor Supply Company Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
To pay for the veterinarian care for the removal of a Tumor on a donkeys eye. It was also used for the injections of a chemo therapy drug to reduce the sarcoid tumor in the upper eyelid of Sammy the donkey.
The grant allowed us to pay off the veterinarian bill. The amount used to treat Sammy exceeded our entire annual budget. With the grant we were able to geld Jake and Jester to male donkeys. Our policy is to not adopt any male donkey unless they are gelded. Without the grant they would have not been available for adoption until early 2014.
How many pets did this grant help?
The grant directly helped 3 donkeys but specifically Sammy
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
The story of Sammy the Donkey
“My name is Sampson. I am 3 years old but feel much older than that. I am a small donkey and I don’t feel very good. I don’t know why the man tied me up to that big cow that was three times my size. It hurt my face really bad when the cow tried to walk away from me. He didn’t want to hurt me, he just wanted a drink of water but I was scared of the big water tank so I tried to run the other way. The rope around my face cuts into my skin when the cow pulls against me.”
That is the voice of Sammy a miniature donkey being treated at Lusco farms Rescue. This is his story of abuse and neglect. It is also his story of hope, healing and friendship. Please take a moment and think about all the other donkeys like “Sammy” that are waiting for you to save them. Sammy came to the rescue in early 2013. He was scared from the abuse he had suffered when he was used to “break the calf”. This is a process when a donkey is tied to a calf in an attempt to train the calf to lead. Unfortunately this doesn’t work when the calf outweighs the donkey. Sammy weighed 200 pounds when he arrived. A calve can weigh 600 pounds or more.
“I must not have done a very good job with the cow because the man shoved me into the trailer and closed the door. The rope is making me bleed and it hurts my face. The man said I am not any good so I am going to a sale barn. I don’t know what that means but I hope he doesn’t hurt me anymore. My eye hurts too and I have a big scab below my eye.”
“I had lots of people walking by and looking at me. They would make faces and shake their heads. Was there something wrong with me? I was hoping that one of them would give me some hay or maybe a carrot. I have only been able to eat what the cows eat. I always got pushed away because I wasn’t big enough to get to the feeder. A boy came by and started talking to me. He asked me if I wanted to go home with him. I hoped he wouldn’t tie me to a cow?”
“I was unloaded and saw cows at this new place. I was very nervous and hoped I wouldn’t be tied to one of them again. The boy was much nicer than the man and he gave me my own hay to eat and made sure the cows couldn’t get my hay. The boy took the rope off my face. That made me feel better that I knew he wouldn’t tie me to a cow. He wanted to touch my face all the time. It hurt when he put the medicine on it. He squeezed the big scab below my eye. It was very painful and I thought I would pass out. It was getting harder to see out of my left eye. The scab was making my eye close shut.”
“The boy talked to a lady he called mom. She told him they couldn’t afford to take care of me anymore and to sell me. The boy talked to me every day and told me he was trying to find me a new home. One day a trailer pulled up to the gate and I was scared the mean man had returned to take me back to his house. A lady and two men came over to talk to me. I hid my face in the corner. The lady said to the man, “he has a tumor”. I didn’t know what that meant but it sounded scary. They put me in the trailer. The lady bent down and wrapped her arms around my neck and told me it was going to be ok. That was the first time anyone ever hugged me. It made my entire body tingle and for the first time in my life I felt warm inside.”
“The trailer came to a stop and I heard funny sounds coming from outside the trailer. I wasn’t sure at first but then I heard it again. My ears perked up as I listened to the sounds of other donkeys braying. It was like all the other donkeys were saying hello to me. I hadn’t been around donkeys for a long time. I can barely remember being next to my mommy when I was very young. Since then I have always been with cows. The people let me out and asked me to go into the big barn. All the other donkeys were watching me as I went into the barn. There was a big horse in the barn and two other donkeys. They told me to not be scared as I walked by. They said the people would help me. The man came in and talked to me. I don’t like people touching my face so I tried to hide it in the corner of my stall. The man said with a calm voice, “Its ok Sammy, I just want to look at your eye.” I let him look at it but I was still very scared. He gave me a hug and told me that a doctor was coming to see me. He gave me hay and water. This was the first time I had ever been allowed to stay in a barn. I usually was left out in the cold, snow and rain with the cows. The people shut my stall door and told me they would see me later.” I wondered why I was in the barn and not with the other donkeys.”
“The next day a lady came to see me. She told me her name was Dr. Aimee. The other people were helping her. She gave me a shot and it made me feel sleepy. She was touching my face but it didn’t hurt like when the boy touched my face. Dr. Aimee was nice and explained what she was doing before she touched me. After she was done the people hugged me and brushed my coat. They feed me hay and gave me water. Over the next few weeks I started to get use to the people. I especially like the lady that feeds me in the morning. She told me her name was Lu and she always stopped to give me a few carrots. She told me not to tell the other donkeys that I got more than them. Dr. Aimee comes every couple of weeks and works on my eye.
“I have been at the donkey rescue for a long time now and I don’t feel scared anymore. The people talk to me and let me play with the other donkeys. I have made lots of friends like Nala and her baby Dazy. There is a pony named Mouse and another donkey named Ol’Gal. Some of the donkeys leave and others come in. When the new donkeys come in I stand at the fence and say hello to them. Ol’ Gal told me the ones that leave have new families where they get to be loved every day. I asked her how could it be better than the rescue? Ol’ Gal told me there’s nothing better than having your own family. I can’t wait to get my own family.”
Sammy is a special donkey and we have tried everything to make sure he keeps his left eye. He had two sarcoids one that was banded and removed. The other needs human chemo therapy drug injections to reduce the size. It is located in his eye socket. The treatments are expensive and we have spent more on his treatment than what we planned for the entire year’s budget for all the animals. We can use any donations to help pay for Sammy’s vet bills. Please consider adopting your own “Sammy”, they are out there waiting for you. Sammy has an adoptive family waiting for him to heal.
