Melissa the Donkey

In early 2023 it became clear to acquaintances of mine that they were no longer able to safely care for the last few animals on their once large and rambling farm. Having been frustrated in the past when trying to rehome their livestock,  they asked my help in finding a home for their remaining Highland Cow and Donkey, Melissa.

Although I am not set up to accommodate cows, my friend Traci at Gillcrest Glen Farm was able to add Penny to her current herd of Highland Cows where she lumbers about as the matriarch over her new, fluffy friends. Melissa, of course, came here – where she has decided that it is one of the great injustices of our time that she has to share attention (and treats!) with the other animals.

Work has been progressing on correcting her weight and bringing her hooves back into good shape, with regular visits from the farrier helping to correct her posture and letting her more comfortable walk on hard surfaces.

Although we don’t have Melissa’s exact age, we do know she was roughly ten years old when she was purchased by her previous owners back in 2017 – which makes the old fart roughly sixteen years old when she landed here. 

As someone who was not handled a great deal by anyone other than her previous owners in the last few years, Melissa is slowly coming around to the attention provided by Farm Guests. She has a very gentle temperamant and is very careful when accepting treats from even the smallest of guests. 

Every year in Nova Scotia you will hear on the news, far more often than I would like to see, stories of animals being seized and removed from terrible conditions.

Too often in our province (and it is by no means a problem unique to Nova Scotia) people with farm animals will gradually slip into a situation where they are no longer able to care adequately for them. Sometimes this is due to financial trouble, sometimes it is due to a change of schedule and lack of time, and in many cases it seems to be that the very well-intentioned owner is no longer up to the physical demands of caring for them.

They slip gradually into a cycle of being able to do less and less until the animals face horrific living conditions – and some of the news stories make for very uncomfortable reading.

But this isn’t about those types of people or animals in that situation. This is about a couple who made a very responsible (and timely) decision to rehome the last of their animals before their ability to care for them and provide them the kind of life they deserved was deminished. 

It’s not easy to say goodbye to something that has been a part of your entire life, from working on your parent’s farm, to raising your own kids, and finally in your retirement. Buying cute animals is easy, caring for them and making the tough choices is hard – and something many people shy away from for far too long.

If you know anyone who is in a situation that makes animals difficult to care for properly, please be supportive and start the appropriate conversation as early as possible.

It’s often easier to see a problem that has developed over years when you are on the outside looking in rather than standing in the middle of it.

Melissa generates two things – noise and manure. And depending on the day, one is always made in larger quantities than the other. But despite (or inspite of?) her “qualities”, she is a lovable beast and a very sweet girl.  Too old to breed she’ll live out her remaining days here, herding the Ladies, greeting Farm Tour Guests, and terrorizing the goats.