By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
For Melissa Pastrano, who grew up in the very-urban Worcester, Mass., becoming an owner of a herd of donkeys was something she never imagined.
The journey started with she and her husband, Michael, downsizing their home space but expanding their land.
They had lived in Copperas Cove for a number of years, but purchased some acreage and “elbow room” in Kempner.
“I just knew I wanted donkeys,” she said. “Not horses. Horses felt fragile. Donkeys seemed hardy. Manageable.”
Prior to becoming a donkey owner, she and her family had dogs, and no farm background at all.
Her pastor learned of the opportunity for the Pastranos to adopt some donkeys when another couple—who’d just purchased property in Killeen found donkeys on the land. They wanted a new home for them.
The animals were severely malnourished, and the Pastranos were offered all the donkeys.
“But I only wanted two donkeys,” she said. “Yet at that point, it became clear—either we step in, or they don’t get help.”
She agreed to take them all, then rented a trailer and had help from friends to transport them from Killeen to Kempner.
On pickup day, the donkeys were loaded, none were halter-trained and they were all frightened. The Pastranos used carrots and sweet feed to coax them onto the trailer.
Melissa chose names based on Bible characters for the donkeys Martha, Mary, Lazarus, and Deborah. Deborah’s foal received the name Jael.
The early days were full of trial and error. She would watch YouTube videos and read online about the best way to care for – and rehabilitate – donkeys.
“I tried Googling everything,” she said. “But there’s so much conflicting information about donkeys. Feeding, care—it was too much.”
Instead, she leaned on input from her veterinarian—and her faith.
“I prayed and trusted I’d figure it out as I went.”
The donkeys were all malnourished, skin and bones, and she knew they needed to gain weight.
After Melissa worked to halter-break the donkeys, they could safely receive veterinary care. They gained weight and began to thrive.
And then, Pastrano noted that one of the donkeys – Martha – continued to gain weight.
A visit from the vet confirmed that she was pregnant – and it turned out, so was Mary.
Eventually, Deborah was confirmed to be expecting a foal. She is due around the June-September timeframe.
“I texted the original owners and told them, ‘Fun fact—you actually gave us eight donkeys,’” she said.
They celebrated when Martha gave birth to a female foal. She was named Elizabeth.
Next up was Mary, who gave birth to a healthy female foal, who received the name Ruth.
Pastrano, an Army veteran who is nearing her final semester of college to become a chaplain, sees lessons from the animals.
“When one of the babies was hurt, she kept running from me while I was trying to help her,” she said. “And it just hit me. That’s how we are sometimes. God’s trying to help us, and we run.”
Pastrano even joked that she likes to tell people that some of her herd are descendants of the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. She also noted the trait of a cross that can be seen above a donkey's back -- a horizontal stripe of dark hair across the shoulders that crosses a long horizontal stripe from the base of the mane to the top of a donkey's tail.
What began as caregiving has grown into informal gatherings she calls “Donkey Devotionals,” where friends together for Bible studies inspired by the animals and their names.
Her church, Cadence City Church, comes to see the donkeys on the second Saturday morning of every month.
Pastrano also gives updates on the growing herd on her TikTok channel, Blessed Bunch.
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