From WHE wild burro specialist Laurie Ford

“We will walk this path together, healing from the past and embracing a future filled with love, care and freedom.”  ~ Kathy Jenkins

The wild burro advocacy world has suffered a huge loss with the recent passing of Kathy Jenkins, founder of Oatman Burros Rehab and Recovery Sanctuary in Mojave Valley, Arizona. While I feel an overwhelming sorrow for those who knew and loved her, it is for the burros that my heart aches the most.

Kathy touched so many people throughout her life, and they will all be impacted in different ways over time. But it is those burros she will not be able to save and protect now – those who will slip through the cracks – that will be affected the greatest in an uncertain future.

In Arizona, the state with the largest population of wild burros, the work Kathy did was essential. So too were the relationships she built with volunteers, local officials, the community, BLM and other rescues and sanctuaries throughout the west. Without Kathy, countless injured or abused burros would have lost their chance at life for within an often dysfunctional and cruel system the easiest, and sometimes only option available is to euthanize the animal.

While the sanctuary has numerous amazing and resolute volunteers, attempts to fill her shoes will be one of the most challenging things they will most likely face in the future. For these burro warriors it is not always a matter of willingness but one of ability. The fire in Kathy’s belly was intrinsic and no matter how hard one tries it may not be possible to ever find that rare dynamic force that drove her.

Her faith in both people, and the burros, and their ability to respond to love and kindness never ceased.

I first met Kathy while documenting the January 2024, Black Mountain wild burro roundup in Arizona for Wild Horse Education.

That morning, the chatter kept returning to one topic – Clubby – a known “local” wild burro with a clubfoot who had been captured on the first day of the roundup.

Fortunately, the BLM Wild Horse and Burro personnel overseeing the roundup recognized this was not a death sentence for Clubby who was still capable of having a future with kindness and the right care. Plus, they had Kathy, and he was released to Oatman Burros Rehab and Recovery Sanctuary where he would receive both.

As I observed BLM and Kathy working together to secure life and refuge for a wild burro whose fate could have potentially been very different, I knew I wanted to get to know her and the role the sanctuary played in helping our wild burros in need. The relationship she had with the Arizona WH&B specialists — built on mutual respect and trust – was instrumental in providing a quality life for countless burros over the years. It was also a relationship I had never seen before. She was confident that they were a gift from God to help her fulfill her mission to save every burro she could.

Before returning home I made a visit to the sanctuary and was captivated by the magical aura of those few acres where I found myself surrounded by dozens of healthy, happy burros eating, playing or simply strolling around the grounds visiting with friends.

One jenny was Petunia, a burro from the Palomino Holding Facility that had captured the hearts of Wild Horse Education team members in 2023. After seeing WHE’s Facebook post pleading for someone to provide Petunia with the company and kindness she so desperately needed Kathy, without hesitation, answered the call and drove to northern Nevada to bring Petunia home. (It was a real scramble for her volunteers as Kathy’s departure from this world was unexpected. Petunia, and all the other burros and horses, are still receiving the care and love Kathy so desperately wanted for them.)

Clubby was in the “medical pen” recovering from surgery along with others who had suffered horrendous injuries or abuse and were healing. The “hospice area” housed burros that had been destined to die shortly after their arrival but then decided, finding themselves in such a loving environment, it was not quite their time.

I got to meet little Traffic Cone, whose mother had been killed in a vehicle collision. Of course, Kathy insisted I get to bottle feed T.C. as she was adamant about wanting others to experience that same overwhelming joy she felt when caring for, or just being with, these burros.

And, of course, she had to show off the amazing dancing skills of Socks, the sanctuary’s alpha burro and trailblazer.

From that point on we became steadfast burro buddies.

Traffic Cone, orphan whose mom was struck by a vehicle and killed

I never knew her birthday or very much about her personal life – perhaps because her personal needs were always squeezed in after those of the burros had been taken care of first. I rarely visited Facebook. It was the burros who dominated every conversation we had.

And while we didn’t always agree on the paths to take in carrying out our missions, it always ended up being irrelevant because we shared the same goal in our quests – to save and preserve wild burros.

It was simple. If WHE succeeds in their mission to protect burros on the range so that they can remain in their lawful designated habitat it decreases the numbers of burros that need to be rescued and given sanctuary.

Kathy wanted to learn everything she could about what we do, and what happens to wild burros and horses from the time they are rounded up to the point they end up in such dire situations rescue is the only recourse.  She firmly believed this knowledge would help her to better understand the animals and what they needed to heal and trust again.

Most importantly, Kathy brought light to the age-old question “Why can’t there be alternatives to euthanizing wild horses and burros with non-life-threatening conditions?”

Together we learned how vital communication is when you have similar and linked objectives.

My last conversation with Kathy was about the remote Tassi-Gold HMA wild burros -targeted for removal 3 decades after the initial decision was made to zero out the HMA to protect the Desert Tortoise. Why now, after all these years?  This was one small herd that we both passionately agreed should remain free on the range to ensure they would never end up in need of rescue after a failed adoption or sale.

We can all only imagine the deafening sound of happy braying as Kathy was greeted at the rainbow bridge.

“You were my heart. My peace. My reason. I remember every face. Every cry. Every time you leaned into me without words. I didn’t save all of you — but I loved all of you. And I know you knew it. Stay close to the ones who walk the field now. Show them who to trust.” ~ Kathy Jenkins

Petunia

None of us are here forever. But all of us can do the best we can each day to spread a bit of kindness and ease the suffering of beings in need… and to pass on a legacy of kindness to the next generation to carry forward.

Your support fuels every mile, every courtroom battle, every victory for the wild.

Together, we stand for our wild ones.
WHE won’t back down.

Thank you for keeping WHE running for our wild ones!