Healing Hooves: How a Once‑Wild Burro is Bringing Joy Across Pennsylvania and Competing Nationally
WASHINGTON— Wanda the Wonder Donkey has become something of a celebrity in Pennsylvania, but her story starts hundreds of miles away on the Havasu Herd Management Area in Arizona. She was gathered in August 2024 after her herd wandered too close to busy developed areas. Part of the Bureau of Land Management’s responsibility to manage wild horses and burros when forage is scarce, water is limited, or animals begin seeking resources in places that put them in danger.
Like all the animals the BLM saves, Wanda spent several months in a BLM holding facility, receiving feed, water, and veterinary care prior to being adopted. In June 2025, she crossed paths with someone who would change her life and whose life she would change right back.
Kelsey Parisi has been training wild horses and burros for more than a decade, working closely with Forever Branded, one of BLM’s key training partners that helps make adoption more accessible for people by providing professional support and preparing animals for new homes. Kelsey originally gentled a mustang back in 2015, a chance experience that snowballed into her career as a trainer. She had worked with burros before, but Wanda would be the first BLM burro she called her own. She remembers seeing Wanda and feeling instantly connected.
“She was perfect,” Kelsey said.
Wanda settled into domestic life faster than anyone expected. Within a couple of days, she wore a halter. Within two weeks, she was halter‑broke. Within three to four weeks, she was confidently attending a kid’s camp, asking for attention like she’d been doing it for years. Not long after, she began visiting senior homes, greeting memory‑care residents, carefully navigating wheelchairs, and offering her quiet, steady presence to anyone who reached out a hand.
“She’s like Ariel from the Little Mermaid, she wants to be where the people are,” Kelsey said. “She’ll meet you at the gate. She’s so personable, and she reads people.”
Wanda especially gravitates toward non‑verbal or memory‑care residents, leaning her head gently into their laps or standing still as they rest a hand on her neck. Some residents who rarely engage with others light up when Wanda walks in. One resident once said, “I’m going to miss you. You’re coming back, right?”
Last year Kelsey and Wanda visited a holiday tree‑lighting ceremony buzzing with crowds, lights, a camel, and even reindeer. Wanda calmly wore a Santa hat and greeted visitors young and old. Nothing seemed to faze her.
“She’s the kind of therapy animal who quietly understands her job and does it with patience and presence,” Kelsey said.
Kelsey sees Wanda’s success as proof of something important. Most wild horses and burros taken off the range adapt beautifully to domestic life and thrive in good homes.
She said people sometimes misunderstand gathers, especially when negative press circulates, but she’s quick to explain that gathers happen because the land can’t sustain the number of animals living on it.
“People don’t realize we need population control to preserve the animals’ wellbeing and the health of the land,” she said. Wanda was cared for in holding and came to Kelsey without any issues. “There aren’t residual problems because of gathers,” she said. “She’s incredible.”
Kelsey encourages anyone thinking about adopting to go for it, and to seek out trainers or gentled animals if they need help.
“BLM burros make amazing partners,” she said. “They’re hardy, well‑rounded, and once you gain their trust, you build a really special relationship.”
Wanda’s growing list of fans eventually pushed her into the national Top Pets Competition. Kelsey’s fiancé’s mom suggested entering, and to everyone’s surprise, Wanda quickly climbed through the early rounds, bolstered by enthusiastic support from the local businesses and the communities she visits as a therapy donkey. Now she’s in the semifinals, and people from her therapy visits are reaching out to say they voted for her.
“It’s neat to have everyone on your side,” Kelsey said.
Winning would mean a lot to her. Not just for the recognition, but for practical reasons. Kelsey has rented facilities since opening her training business in 2015, and the prize could help her purchase her own farm. The matching charity prize would support Forever Branded, the organization she partners with to gentle and place wild horses and burros.
People interested can vote for Wanda the Wonder Donkey for Top Pet every day until Sept. 19, and if she makes it to the final round, people can vote through Sept. 23.
Kelsey said she knew she’d love Wanda, but didn’t expect to love a burro as much as she does. Wanda has become a reason for people to smile, a calm presence in difficult moments, and a reminder of how far a once‑wild burro can go when given the chance.
If you meet Wanda, you feel just how special she is, and thanks to dedicated adopters, trainers, partners like Forever Branded, and the BLM’s commitment to humane gathers and finding good homes, her story is only getting started.
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