Bailey the Donkey

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 15 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #3,838 in Animals, #90,590 overall | Donates to Long Hopes

Meet Squidoo's Official Spokesdonkey for Longhopes!

Longhopes works very hard to find the best possible home for all donkeys that come their way. Some elderly or special needs friends just require too much love, attention, and medical care to be adopted. For these guys, the rescue provides a permanent sanctuary for them to live out the rest of thier lives in a stable and caring environment. Bailey is one of these permanent residents.

Rockin' the Steampunk Vibe

Bailey's Story 

Written by Kathy Dean, Director of Longhopes

"Oh that is Bailey. He is a 20 year old light gray gelding donkey that came to Longhopes from the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse and Burro facility in Canon City, Colorado. He had been rounded up from a free roaming herd near Blythe California in May 2000. From there he was moved to various BLM facilities until he came to Longhopes in July 2001 as part of a cooperative program we had with the BLM to help get their "jacks" gentled and ready for adoption. However, the BLM hadn't done a medical exam on Bailey so they didn't know he had a vision disease called Chronic Uveitis. Both eyes have blurry vision which is worsened by UV rays from the sun. So a few years ago we bought him that dark set of "sunglasses" to sheild his eyes. When we discovered his vision problem together with the fact that his best burro buddy was another BLM donkey who lost complete sight in one eye--we decided never to adopt either one of them out. They would still be together at Longhopes if his buddy had not broken his leg from progressive osteoarthritis. Sadly that donkey had to be euthanized. Bailey is aging fast due to some liver damage from malnutrition on the range. Since then Bailey has not had any buddy until young, white April came along. She attached herself to Bailey even though he was 16 years her senior. April is getting adopted this weekend so sadly Bailey will be alone again."

It's Hard to be This Good Looking

Love At First Sight! 

How I met Bailey

Shortly after getting Longhopes signed up for donations here on Squidoo, the kiddos and I took a trip out to the shelter to say hello and get some pictures for the lenses here. Kathy Dean was so kind to us, taking my kids for donkey rides, helping us distribute carrots (paid for by Squidoo!), and even loading up the gang for a trip out to the pasture to make sure none of the long-ears were left out of the carrot-fest.

As I watched my children being driven out I started snapping pix when I saw dear Bailey from the corner of my eye. He stood out since he was the only one wearing what I thought was a fly mask (turned out to be his snazzy sunglasses, though). He walked up slowly and snuggled his nose in to my side.

And stayed there. Not pushing me around (*cough* not like Snoopy, great overlord of donkey-land *cough*), not rubbing, just standing there saying "Hello, will you love me?".

My heart melted. Yup, this guy turned me in to a big puddle of goo.

Sanctuary 

No donkey is an unwanted donkey.

"These dear donkeys have endured enough hardship to last a lifetime. For the rest of their natural lives, Longhopes will ensure they will never suffer again by guaranteeing them permanent sanctuary at our shelter." --Kathy Dean

Kathy Dean 

Longhopes Donkeys

The story of a woman who owns and operates the Long Hopes ranch, a refuge for abandoned donkeys. From Rocky Mountain PBS' "Real Coloradans" show. rmpbs.org

Runtime: 5:29
429 views
2 Comments:

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Help Out Bailey 

A small donation of $5 via PayPal will go a long way to helping keep Bailey healthy and happy.

The mission of Longhopes Donkey Shelter, Inc. is to rescue, shelter, rehabilitate and find permanent homes for donkeys that would otherwise be destroyed for meat consumption overseas.

We at Squidoo passionately believe in creating new ways to support good causes online. By making a donation to Long Hopes from this page, you are sending money directly to that organization, in whatever amount you want. We don't touch it. We don't even see it. The author of this page doesn't either. And if you made it this far, thanks for caring.

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New Link List 

Longhopes Donkey Shelter
Come learn about Bailey's home.
Bailey's Page
Bailey has his very own page in the Longhopes Sanctuary.
Country Supply
Country Supply Store will donate 5% of your purchase to the shelter if you enter "Longhopes" in the checkout box.
Goodsearch
Grab the free Goodsearch toolbar for your browser and sign up for a donation to be made to Longhopes with every search you make - powered by Yahoo!

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Leave a Bray for Bailey!! 

He loves to hear from his fans

Lensmaster

OhMe wrote...

Congratulations on placing 3rd in the contest. Great lens.

ReplyPosted November 10, 2008

Lensmaster

OhMe wrote...

Please give Bailey a hug from me. Super lens and good luck on the contest.

ReplyPosted October 07, 2008

Lensmaster

The_Homeopath wrote...

Well, April has gone to a good home in Montana. I know it sounds mean, but permanent sanctuary is so expensive and they just couldn't afford to keep going without the adoption fees. It's funny, though. When I visited them last, it seemed like an odd pair - April was kind of pushy if you know what I mean! LOL

ReplyPosted October 04, 2008

Lensmaster

daria369 wrote...

Sorry about that but I forgot to tell you that I know someone who wants to grow up to have a place like that for retired and abused horses - I already emailed a link to this lens...

ReplyPosted October 04, 2008

Lensmaster

daria369 wrote...

I love this lens and taking April away from Bailey is just not fair! :(

ReplyPosted October 04, 2008

Lensmaster

JJNW wrote...

So Sweet! I love "Spokesdonkey" - great concept! Thanks for helping animals! Good luck in the contest!

ReplyPosted October 04, 2008

Lensmaster

Jewelsofawe wrote...

Lovely lens!

ReplyPosted October 04, 2008

Lensmaster

ChristiannaGarrett-Martin wrote...

Brilliant! A very worthwhile Lens :)

Christianna

ReplyPosted October 03, 2008

Lensmaster

chefkeem wrote...

From ass to ass - I think you're cute, Bailey!

ReplyPosted October 02, 2008