There are all kinds of different ways to look animals in our world. For centuries, animals have worked with people all over the world, throughout human history – I think of horses, dogs and because I live with three and am writing a book about one, donkeys.
Lulu reminds me every day of the storied history of this remarkable and oft-forgotten animal. Donkeys are not as exotic as horses, nor as entwined with people’s lives as dogs. You could make a good case for horses or dogs, but no animal I know of really matches the spiritual history and contribution to human life more than the donkey. They are most dependable, durable and intuitive animals in the world, I believe. Jesus wrote on one into Jerusalem, Napoleon rode one over the Alps, Queen Victoria rode them around the palace grounds. The bible is riddled with references to donkeys, who appear in scores of the greatest paintings of the world, art that celebrates the wondrous partnership between donkey and man.
Even today, more than 30 million donkeys work all over the world, carrying people, goods, food, guarding sheep and livestock. There is a trove of great literature and culture celebrating the journey of donkeys and humans together, from “Don Quixote” to “Platero And I”, and in our time, even “Shrek.” No animals has worked harder, done more, thrived in more places than the humble donkey. People don’t make movies about them, as they do dogs or flashy racehorses, but I don’t think there is a greater working animal in the world. And I appreciate horses and my wonderful herding and therapy dog, Red. You can make a case for other animals being the greatest working animals – surely horse people would make theirs, dog lovers also.
Lulu, pictured above, was acquired as a guard animal to protect our sheep. She is faithful to that work, every single day. Lulu has no wish to go off to farm and graze all day, she stands guard in front of the Pole Barn every night, rain or shine, in the snow, ice or bitter cold. We have never lost a sheep to a coyote or stray dog. Lulu has even saved chickens from a fox. She is the sentinel, the guardian. Wherever the sheep are, she is standing in front of them, scanning the woods, the pasture, the horizon. Many people use donkeys to haul wood, plow, pull carts. Donkeys are hardy, they work in all terrain, in desserts and mountains, they are profoundly attached to humans but, like cats, they never surrender themselves to people the way dogs do.
If a donkey doesn’t feel safe or confident doing something, it will not get done. They have been around humans long enough to love them and also be wary of them. Donkeys are among the most loved and most mistreated animals. They are savvy. With donkeys, everything must be their own idea, they move at their own pace, they are the smartest and most intuitive animals I have ever been around, and the easiest to care for. Today, I am happy to celebrate the donkey, and especially to acknowledge Lulu, who has stood guard over our sheep every single day and night of this bitter and unrelenting winter.