San Bernardino County community at odds over future of beloved donkey population
The future of the beloved Reche Canyon donkey community has residents at odds over how the situation is being handled, and where the animals may actually end up.
"We think what they do for us, for the community, is far greater than the issues they might cause," said Chase Miller, who lives with his wife Mandy just off Reche Canyon Road.
Their home is one of many close to the area where hundreds of wild burros wander and, like the Millers say, eat everything they can which in turn helps protect against wildfires.
"We're in a Class 10 fire zone here. We're worried about our houses, our kids and our families," said the Millers. "Our house has been saved by what the burros have cleared off."
This is just part of the reason that they organized a Change.org petition in hopes of keeping the donkeys where they are after San Bernardino County officials entered an agreement with a non-profit called Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue in order to manage the population.
"There's some residents that really like the donkeys, but there's some residents that are frustrated," said Mark Meyers, the Executive Director of the Texas-based donkey rescue. "There's a lot of misconception out there."
So far, Peaceful Valley says that they've removed 78 burros since beginning work in December. They say there are hundreds more that still need to go.
"It could be anywhere from 600 to 1,000 donkeys in that area," Meyers said.
When asked how many the area could keep, he said 250 was a realistic number.
Residents say that they wish county officials would have used a local rescue so the burros could stay closer to home, but county officials say they had multiple offers declined by a local company. They also say that Peaceful Valley is doing the work for free.
"Our preference would be to contract with a local nonprofit rescue and sanctuary organization that has the capacity to rescue and shelter an adequate number of the undomesticated burros that roam freely in the Reche and San Timoteo canyon areas," said part of a statement from San Bernardino County.
