We all have heard and seen people bond with dogs and cats, but one woman only had eyes for one particular species….donkeys! This is the story of a fifty-eight-year-old woman, Greta, and how she single-handedly changed how the world saw these misunderstood animals.
Source: Habit Tribe
Greta had spent her entire life educating herself and her community about Donkeys. But, while she was proud of her work, she had no idea that all of this was preparing her for the day when she would change everything we knew about these mysterious animals.
Animal Lover
While most kids begged for comic books or trips away, Greta as a child, only wanted one thing – time outside. She loved nature and was generally empathetic towards animals, whether bees or bats.
Source: Habit Tribe
Thankfully, her parents encouraged Greta’s passion and helped her explore and learn about animals and plants from a young age. So while everyone expected the allure of nature to disappear as Greta grew up, the opposite happened.
No Career
Greta focused her passion on animal welfare and became an animal rights activist. Unfortunately, before the internet, she relied heavily on researching the topics through her local library.
Source: Habit Tribe
While the young woman would have loved studying animals more, she couldn’t attend college. And thus, she never got the chance to explore her career dream fully. Instead, after High School, she quickly got married and became pregnant.
Animal Welfare
This was an expected role for Greta for the period, but that didn’t mean her passion for animal welfare diminished. In fact, the little free time she had when she wasn’t taking care of her family, she spent at the library.
Source: Habit Tribe
And soon, she got pregnant again, and with two kids and a busy house to manage, Greta found it more complex than ever to continue her formal education regarding animals. Though she couldn’t dedicate that much time to her passion, she made a groundbreaking decision about one thing.
Housewife
Greta wanted to devote her life to understanding and helping donkeys. She had always known that they were misunderstood and not regarded highly worldwide. And, of course, the housewife wanted to change that.
Source: Habit Tribe
She felt that Donkeys needed her to help the most and were overlooked by many animal activist organizations. So, Greta focused her research specifically on Donkeys to understand their characteristics.
A Blur
The next few years of Greta’s life were a blur. She was a busy mother juggling many roles but never forgot about her passion. The housewife had slowly read all the books she could get her hands on about Donkeys and even joked about being an animal expert.
Source: Habit Tribe
But of course, she had never actually seen one in real life! Greta knew all her knowledge was based on theory rather than practical learning. So, she came up with a crazy idea.
Farm
Greta asked her husband if he would want to move to a farm! This was a drastic change from their suburban home, but the idea of living a slower-paced life, where she and her kids were surrounded by nature, strongly appealed to Greta.
Source: Habit Tribe
And, of course, this would also mean that she would finally be able to get a donkey! She had expected her husband to resist the idea, but to her surprise, he was entirely on board. He wanted his wife to finally focus on her passion.
Supported
He knew about his wife’s passion for Donkeys and wanted to support Greta in every way possible. Her husband went above and beyond and encouraged Greta to focus more on her passions, as she had spent most of her life focusing on the kids.
Source: Habit Tribe
The mother of two was overwhelmed, motivated, and ready to do that. So the following day, the couple started farm-hunting and, to their utter surprise, found the perfect piece of property closer to her husband’s work and the kid’s school.
Nature
This meant that, on paper, the kids and her husband’s routine wouldn’t have to change, and Greta would finally live a life surrounded by nature, as she had always dreamed about ever since she was a child.
Source: Habit Tribe
And only a month into moving into the farm, Greta began researching about buying a donkey. The property already had stables, so all the mother had to do was find the right animal. Ideally, she would have preferred to adopt, but she wasn’t closing any doors.
Passion
Again, it seemed like the universe was working in her favor. Her local community was all well aware of Greta’s passion for Donkeys and how she wanted to adopt one to educate herself further on the species.
Source: Habit Tribe
And one day, the mother got a phone call that two young foals had been found on the outskirts of their little town. They had been abandoned and needed a forever home. And, of course, Greta was the first person called to take on this task.
Welcome Donkeys
When Greta met the two foals for the first time, her heart broke into a million pieces. They were practicality days old and already showed extreme signs of neglect. Someone had intentionally left them here with no plan to return for them.
Source: Habit Tribe
Later, Greta recalled the next few weeks as one of her life’s most exciting and overwhelming days. She finally had the opportunity to care for donkeys and could apply all the knowledge she had accumulated from years of research.
Learning
And all her hard work paid off. The abandoned foals fully recovered, and Greta and her family owned two donkeys. The whole town cheered for the young mother, who had finally been given a chance to do what she loved.
Source: Habit Tribe
And as Greta’s kids grew up, she added more and more animals to the farm. The dream that the mother had longed for so many years was now a reality. While she wasn’t formally educated about Donkeys, Greta had gone out of her way to learn as much as possible about them.
Hands-On
The years she was quickly whizzed by. Greta was only 58 years old, and her kids had moved out and started their own families. But her love for Donkeys hadn’t diminished. She still had the original two donkeys she had found as foals.
Source: Habit Tribe
And she had now adopted two more foals. That Greta had her hands full with animal care would be an understatement. The mother woke up at sunrise and spent all her waking hours caring for the many animals she had on her farm.
No Donkey
And, of course, Greta loved her life, but she had no idea that all of her years of researching about donkeys would soon be tested in a way that the animal lover had never been before, and it all started with a plan to visit the zoo.
Source: Habit Tribe
The community’s local zoo had just started a petting area and had heavily advertised about having a grown donkey. And, of course, Greta had to see and meet this newest member. But when she finally reached the zoo, no Donkey was in sight.
A Lifetime
Greta asked one of the workers at the Zoo about the Donkey and mentioned how she had explicitly come to visit it. And that is when the worker told her the Donkey had been sick and couldn’t enter the petting area.
Source: Habit Tribe
While most people wouldn’t have thought twice about this news, Greta, who had spent a lifetime caring for the animals, was immediately curious. She started asking more and more questions about the sick Donkey, but the worker only seemed annoyed.
Dismissed
He assumed that Greta was just a nosey housewife who had no idea what she was talking about, and when he snarkily asked Greta if she had gone to college to study the animals. And when the mother replied she handled it, he laughed at her and told her to leave him be. As the Donkey was being cared for by “real” veterinarians, Greta’s opinions were not needed.
Source: Habit Tribe
The rude zoo worker had no idea about Greta’s experience, and the mother tried to let go of the situation. And the worker was right. The sick Donkey probably did have a lot of “real” veterinarians working to improve it. So, the animal lover went through the zoo and enjoyed watching the other animals and planned on coming a few days later to meet this Donkey finally.
Another Visit
But when she planned another visit to the zoo a few weeks later, the Donkey was nowhere to be found! And the same work she had talked to was again on duty. So, she took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst news and a rude comment or two.
Source: Habit Tribe
And as she walked up, the worker also clearly remembered her, and as soon as Greta got into the hearing distance, he blurted out that the Donkey was still sick! This was alarming news for the experienced Donkey owner. The animal was not recovering and needed a new treatment plan!
Experience
This time around, Greta refused to leave. Instead, she calmly told the zoo worker that she had four donkeys on her farm and had studied the species was decades. And that she would be more than happy to help for free if only the zoo worker would allow it.
Source: Habit Tribe
And to her utter surprise, the worker relented. He took Greta to the back of the enclosure and introduced her to the veterinarians working with the sick Donkey. Greta also explained how she didn’t have professional experience working with animals but lived on a farm and had raised donkeys for decades.
Mystery Illness
The veterinarians had heard about Greta and commented how other locals visiting the zoo and noticing the Donkey being sick had recommended that the veterinarians contact Greta for her expertise in Donkeys!
Source: Habit Tribe
Now, with all the pleasantries out of the way, Greta got straight into evaluating the sick Donkey. First, the veterinarians explained how the animal had been ill for over 90 days and had arrived with some mystery illness.
It Worked
But once Greta had heard about all the symptoms, she could only smile! She had seen this issue once before. And was versed in the treatment. One of her donkeys had experienced it only a few years ago. So the 58-year-old quickly sprang into action and devised a completely different treatment plan for the veterinarians.
Source: Habit Tribe
And it worked! Within a week, the Donkey was back to walking and eating alone! The veterinarians who had spent their lives studying animals through the “proper” channels were dumbfounded! It turns out their education was no match for experience and seeing Greta’s natural ability to care for animals, the zoo offered her an official position.
This story is a work of fiction created for entertainment. Characters and events are the products of the author’s imagination. The images shown are used for illustration only.