When Clare Staples walked into a Texas auction house that day, she was searching for horses in need of rescue. She had no idea she’d stumble upon one of the rarest — and most heartbreaking — sights she’d ever seen.
In a small pen, all alone, sat a trembling baby with a sticker slapped on his hindquarters — a number marking him for sale. He was barely a few weeks old, already separated from his mother, and about to be auctioned off to a life that would almost certainly end in tragedy.
“He was just a baby,” said Staples, founder of Skydog Ranch, in a video for The Dodo. “He was going to be sold somewhere he’d be raised and then hunted by trophy hunters.”
But this wasn’t just any baby. He was a zonkey — a rare cross between a zebra and a donkey. And though he had no idea how special he was, Staples did.
“He touched my heart,” she said. “I knew I couldn’t leave him there.”
By what Staples called “a miracle,” she managed to rescue the little zonkey just in time. She named him Zebedee — and his new life began that day.
When Zebedee arrived at Skydog Ranch, Staples introduced him to two other rescued animals: Mabel, a gentle donkey, and Snowball, a one-eyed mini pony. From the moment they met, the trio formed an unlikely family. Mabel took to Zebedee as if he were her own, standing protectively by his side as he tried to nurse from her.
Because he was still so young, Zebedee needed bottle feedings around the clock — but surrounded by his new family, he began to grow stronger, braver, and happier every day.
Then one morning, something magical happened. While playing out in the field, Zebedee suddenly burst into a full sprint — zooming in wild circles around Mabel and Snowball. It was his very first case of the “zoomies,” and Staples couldn’t help but laugh and cry watching him experience pure joy for the first time.
“He’ll grow up knowing nothing but love and care,” Staples said.
Once a terrified baby marked for death, Zebedee now spends his days running free — a living reminder of how compassion can rewrite even the unlikeliest stories.
