Headline: Donkey OK

By CRAIG CROSBY
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Thursday, February 22, 2007

PITTSFIELD -- In the end, she went in quietly, led into captivity by a trusted friend.

After more than a month on the loose and numerous vain capture attempts, Jenny the donkey simply walked back into captivity Wednesday morning.

As she pranced around her temporary corral, the donkey, whose stranglehold on freedom made national headlines, already seemed at home.

"I'm thrilled that she's safe," said Mary Gaeta, whose life had been turned upside down since the donkey's Jan. 18 escape from Gaeta's Higgins Road farm. "I'm sure everyone is going to be pleased, now she's been caught."

Jenny, who is actually believed to be a hinny, the offspring of a male horse and female donkey, was led into captivity, more than caught. Karina Lewis, an equine behavior specialist, had spent more than a week earning Jenny's trust and building a rapport.

"We spent a lot of cold days out there," Lewis said. "I spent a lot of time just shivering on the ground and respecting her."

Lewis spent Tuesday in the woods behind Gaeta's farm, where Jenny ran whenever she felt threatened. There was a major breakthrough when Jenny started following Lewis. Lewis walked through the corral area with Jenny on her heels, an act that set the stage for Wednesday's capture.

"So today, when it came down to doing that, it was a natural process," Lewis said.

Jenny followed Lewis into the three-sided corral, which is an amalgamation of pallets and wire fencing reinforced by snow banks, and waited patiently as Lewis and her partner, Kirk Stanley, erected the fourth side to complete the enclosure.

"We let things be her idea and we didn't force it," Lewis said.

The temporary corral will be replaced by a sturdier pipe fence by the end of the weekend, Lewis said.

"That will be a more permanent structure (Jenny) can't jump or get hurt on," Lewis said.

She is hoping Jenny's notoriety will lead people to donate money for a new fence to enclose Gaeta's 18-acre farm. Lewis estimates the project will cost $10,000.

Anyone who wishes to donate may send a check payable to Jenny's Fund to Bangor Savings Bank, 83 Somerset Plaza, Pittsfield, ME 049677. Any leftover money will be given to a mule rescue organization.

Throughout her escape, Jenny had continued to return to the farm for food, but would never allow Gaeta or her partner, Joe Varricchio, to get closer than 10 feet before fleeing into the woods. Attempts to tranquilize Jenny's food, and even an injection fired from a dart gun, failed to take the animal down.

The experience left Jenny no worse for wear, according to Lewis.

"She's in very good health," Lewis said. "She's very cute and she's just as smart as they come."

Lewis believes Jenny's travels, which rarely went beyond Gaeta's farm and the surrounding woods and fields, were motivated by a lost companion that was sold separately from Jenny at an auction last fall.

The companion, which Lewis believes is a twin sibling, is living at a New Hampshire farm after being acquired by a rescue organization.

Lewis hopes to build appropriate facilities that would allow the two animals to be reunited at Gaeta's farm.

"That sure would be neat if we could get her twin here," Stanley said. "It would be a gift to her."

Lewis said she plans to continue to work with Jenny, Gaeta and Varricchio to develop a trusting relationship.

"We want her to get better conditioned to humans and not be afraid," Lewis said.

Gaeta was served with a subpoena on Tuesday charging her with animal trespassing, a civil violation that was leveled after a neighbor filed a complaint, according to Sgt. Tim Roussin of the Pittsfield Police Department.

Overall, though, Gaeta and Varricchio said the experience has only fostered hope and friendships.

The couple had dozens if not hundreds of calls from across the country from people offering help and, in some cases, prayers.

The couple holds particular affection for Lewis and Stanley.

"I'll tell you, they are great people," Varricchio said. "They're a godsend really. There's still a lot of nice people in the world. It's gives you a good feeling."

February 22, 2007: Donkey News!!!!

That was the subject line in an email I received from RBF while on winter break in Texas. And I was just telling Dana and Bridget last night over dinner that I really needed to go online to The Maine Sentinel and see if the donkey had been "captured". I didn't want to miss any big news.

Here's the body of the email:

Hi Theresa,
I hope that you are having an enjoyable week. Just in case it did not make the front page news down there in Texas although I am thinking it certainly would….the Pittsfield donkey safely returned to home yesterday. I know that you had been following this story and that it has probably consumed many of your waking moments this week wondering about the welfare of said donkey. You may now rest easy!