Welcome to our site!
General info about donkey surrenders: If you need or wish to surrender a donkey to us, please be prepared that we may ask for help with trailering and/or with a possible donation (monetary or otherwise) to offset at least initial costs of our care for the donkey. We do not have a general fee requirement for surrenders but will work with folks wanting to surrender a donkey on a case-by-case basis. Also, please be aware that we are not always ready to take in new donkeys. We try to limit the number of rescue donkeys at our farm to 15.
General info about donkey returns: Donkeys that are protected by an adoption contract from us can always come back to us and are given priority in terms of available space. Donations are appreciated but by no means a requirement for return.
General info about donkey adoptions: As far as we manage to keep it updated, we list donkeys that are currently adoptable in the section on "Available Donkeys". If no donkeys are listed there then we may not currently have any donkeys that are ready to go to a new home right away. However, it's still worthwhile contacting us since there may be some that are close to being adoptable or otherwise suitable to go to the right home but that we haven't listed yet. You can also contact us to inquire when we will have adoptables available or schedule a visit to see some of those currently in training. Please note that we rarely have miniature donkeys in our program (though we frequently get inquiries about minis). Nor do we usually adopt out single donkeys as companions for horses, goats or other animals. We generally require that our adoptees have a donkey companion at their new home. Depending on personalities and history, sometimes a horse or mule companion will do. We have had too many negative experience with donkeys as livestock guardians, hence we usually do not adopt out donkeys as guardians.
Our adoption fee varies depending on size, age, and level of training. For a single donkey (to keep another equine company), it can vary from $300 to $1000, and for a pair from $500 to $1500. That fee includes recent Coggins, worming, core vaccinations plus flu/rhino, recent hoof trims, recent dental exam/floating, temporary brand inspection certificate if needed, ground training, and a fitting halter. Some of our donkeys have had some advanced training to ride, drive or pack. Our donkeys also come with a lifelong commitment from us to take them back if needed, and to answer any questions and assist in any way we can with advice and recommendations in any matters of care, nutrition, and training.
General info about donkey returns: Donkeys that are protected by an adoption contract from us can always come back to us and are given priority in terms of available space. Donations are appreciated but by no means a requirement for return.
General info about donkey adoptions: As far as we manage to keep it updated, we list donkeys that are currently adoptable in the section on "Available Donkeys". If no donkeys are listed there then we may not currently have any donkeys that are ready to go to a new home right away. However, it's still worthwhile contacting us since there may be some that are close to being adoptable or otherwise suitable to go to the right home but that we haven't listed yet. You can also contact us to inquire when we will have adoptables available or schedule a visit to see some of those currently in training. Please note that we rarely have miniature donkeys in our program (though we frequently get inquiries about minis). Nor do we usually adopt out single donkeys as companions for horses, goats or other animals. We generally require that our adoptees have a donkey companion at their new home. Depending on personalities and history, sometimes a horse or mule companion will do. We have had too many negative experience with donkeys as livestock guardians, hence we usually do not adopt out donkeys as guardians.
Our adoption fee varies depending on size, age, and level of training. For a single donkey (to keep another equine company), it can vary from $300 to $1000, and for a pair from $500 to $1500. That fee includes recent Coggins, worming, core vaccinations plus flu/rhino, recent hoof trims, recent dental exam/floating, temporary brand inspection certificate if needed, ground training, and a fitting halter. Some of our donkeys have had some advanced training to ride, drive or pack. Our donkeys also come with a lifelong commitment from us to take them back if needed, and to answer any questions and assist in any way we can with advice and recommendations in any matters of care, nutrition, and training.
Our Farm
After many years of relying exclusively on foster homes to train and accommodate our donkeys, The Longears Safehouse finally acquired its own working farm in 2019 near the charming town of Estancia, seat of Torrance County. Our facility currently comprises 40 acres.
The farm is managed by its owner, who is one of the directors and resides on site. Since purchasing the farm, we have invested a lot of time, labor, and funds into improving the existing buildings, facilities, and pasture/corral/paddock areas, and - as some of the pictures show - we are still not done with our improvement projects. We hope to be able to offer accommodations for interns, visitors, and even vacationers soon. We are planning to use part of our land as irrigated pasture land and eventually for hay production. And we are planning to plant a number of trees to support the State of New Mexico's conservation efforts, to create some wind breaks, and enhance our bird habitat so the existing bird population won't have to resort to buildings and trailers anymore to build their nests.
If you wish to visit our farm and take a tour, please contact us at least 24 hours ahead of time! We are not staffed for general opening hours for the public and take visits by appointment only.
The farm is managed by its owner, who is one of the directors and resides on site. Since purchasing the farm, we have invested a lot of time, labor, and funds into improving the existing buildings, facilities, and pasture/corral/paddock areas, and - as some of the pictures show - we are still not done with our improvement projects. We hope to be able to offer accommodations for interns, visitors, and even vacationers soon. We are planning to use part of our land as irrigated pasture land and eventually for hay production. And we are planning to plant a number of trees to support the State of New Mexico's conservation efforts, to create some wind breaks, and enhance our bird habitat so the existing bird population won't have to resort to buildings and trailers anymore to build their nests.
If you wish to visit our farm and take a tour, please contact us at least 24 hours ahead of time! We are not staffed for general opening hours for the public and take visits by appointment only.