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Dear friends,

This is an assessment of our situation here at the Wild Burro Rescue. Our sanctuary is home to 178 burros (donkeys), 5 mules, 8 horses, 9 dogs and 6 cats. The sanctuary is located on 130 acres in Olancha, CA. It is located in the High Sierras where the sagebrush meets the pine. The temperature fluctuates quite a bit. In the summer it’s between 50 and 110 degrees, in winter it can go down to 10 and up to around 80 degrees. This is the terrain and climate in which the wild burro thrives in the California and Nevada territories.

This terrain is considered high desert. The high desert vegetation consists of native grasses, plants and sagebrush that grow with a small amount of water. In the wild, burros graze and exist on this kind of vegetation. The burros adapted over generations to this meager diet. In spite of this lean diet, the life expectancy of burros is between 40 and 50 years. However, when the burros come to our sanctuary we have to feed them hay. The hay has to be lean, low in protein; otherwise the burros get sick with colic and in spite of medication some of them will die. Just this month we had this problem and lost one of our burros. The hay we got was too rich and it took us over two weeks to locate lean hay. The lean hay is a combination native grass, orchard grass and Bermuda grass hay. (Alfalfa is too rich in protein). Equine senior feed is also a good alternative. It consists of grain, minced hay, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and beet pulp. It has to be supplemented with lean hay or native grass otherwise the burros can get constipation. However, equine senior feed is expensive and we can only afford to use it sparingly for the really old burros. Most of our burros are senior (above 15 years of age), but they still have many years to live. Our 130 acres hardly produces any native grass since there is not enough natural moisture. However, with irrigation we would have no problem producing the necessary native plants for our burros to graze on.

The solution in a nutshell: our sanctuary needs a functioning well.

Presently we have a well, which was hand-dug around 1890, it is 20 feet deep. When we first moved to the sanctuary we climbed down and cleaned out the well. It was full of decomposed dead animal and had a horrible smell. We dug the well several feet deeper, but were unable to increase its water production. The well is covered with a sheet of plywood since it is now unusable.

At the present time, we lease the use of a spring that is located not far from our house. This spring is on government land. It doesn’t produce enough water and it also runs completely dry around the month of June. As a result, we have to truck additional water to our sanctuary. The well we use belongs to a neighbor, and is located down by Route 395, a 3.8 mile trip (one way) over a bumpy desert road. Our water truck is a 1972 model and is presently NOT in working condition. We use a 425-gallon fiberglass tank sitting on our pickup truck. Even this tank is in poor condition and we have to repair it whenever it starts leaking. We have to drive to the neighbors' well 2 to 3 times per day to fill around 20 tubs(troughs), and these tubs need to be filled twice a day. We use a small gasoline pump to move the water. We all depend on our water using this antiquated, inefficient system.

(photos of our truck, tank, pump etc. are found on the 'wish list' page).

Please help! We are a non-profit 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) organization. Please help us in any way you can to help us get water out of the ground. One more point, we have no electricity on our sanctuary and there is no way to get an electrical line to our property. We have to depend on solar and wind-generated power to provide our electric power.

The fire season is year round in Olancha and we worry a lot about fire. This is our situation. As you can see we need help. The estimate for the well is $41,097.00. This includes drilling the well, the water storage tank and solar power. We need helping hands from people who care about life.

The wild burro sanctuary is needed because the government land-management policy calls for totally eliminating the wild burros. The National Park Service has been killing them using helicopters and direct shooting in Death valley National Park and other places, disregarding the fact that the burros have been living peacefully where they are now for nearly 400 years. The only safe place for them is the sanctuary, our 130 acres in Olancha.

We desperately need your help!

Diana Chontos
President / founder WBR

Dear friends,
As you remember, our most pressing problem is: we do not have a water well. We have to haul all our water supply with a pick up truck.

Things got worse with regard to water since our last newsletter. Our 1972 model water truck still desperately needs repair. The mechanic is unable to locate parts to make it work. No wonder: the truck is over 30 years old! Our 425-gallon fiberglass water tank is leaking: the one we use to haul water on top of our large pickup truck. By the time we return with the water, we have already lost around 100 gallons of water on the road. When you think it can’t get worse, it will. Our large pick up truck broke down and was two days at the repair shop, so we had to use our small pickup truck. We place two 50-gallon barrels on the truck; it hardly was able to carry the load.

It is very hot here in august. Temperatures easily can climb to the low 120’s. It is hard work to haul the water in this heat over a bumpy desert road. One round trip is close to 8 miles. We had to fill the water drinking pots again and again. You will see the attached photos of our happy burros drinking this most precious commodity. We do not waste water. We know the value of it.

The estimate we have for the well is around $40,000. We do not have this amount of funds. We saved some money for the well, but then emergencies came up like car repair bills and veterinary bills. Even the regular day-to-day expenses have to be paid. Our feed bill is close to $7,000 per month. And so it goes. Well, we need the well and we will get the well! We will get the well in segments and I will explain it to you. We will cut the solar sub pump package, a saving close to $9,000. We have to use instead our old diesel generator. Then we will get a small, possibly a used water storage tank. A saving of around $3,000. Then we could possibly save around $1000 on installation. Now the price of the well is down to around $26,500. We still need the irrigation system. It is essential to grow native vegetation to feed the burros. The irrigation system has to be constructed so that it can also be used as a fire barrier in case of a wild fire. And we have to purchase barns for our burros that will be made of steel.

Recently, we had a wild fire that came close to our sanctuary. Our worries cannot be described. No water, no sprinkler system to protect the animals. Route 395 was closed for several days and we were petrified. This experience showed us again the importance of a well.

You may wonder why we are here in Olancha; a place where there is no water and not in a greener place. I’ll tell you why. Our sanctuary is close to the Death Valley National Park and close to other places the last wild burros call their home. We are here looking over the shoulders of the Park Service and the BLM (Bureau of Land Management). These are the agencies that in the past killed the burros or rounded them up to transport them to be killed. We remember the trucks full of burros on their way to the slaughterhouse. If we are not vigilant, the killing can start again. Trust me, we have to stay right here and we have to work hard to create a safe place for the burros to save their lives. They need lots of fresh water and lots of native plants to eat, barns for protection from the coming winter and shelter from the hot summer sun. The well is the first step, followed by many more steps to create a wonderful sanctuary for all our burros, mules, horses, dogs and cats. Together we can do it.

When I sit at night on the porch after a hard days’ work, I listen to the sounds of the night; I can feel your presence, your concern for the burros and their life. Your presence gives me strength and energy to continue fighting for the protection of these wonderful, intelligent and innocent creatures. Thank you for your continued help. Without you we are unable to accomplish our goals.

Sincerely yours,

Diana Chontos, president / founder WBR