CNN HERO FINALIST: MARK MEYERS (SAN ANGELO, TX)
This package/segment contains third party material. Unless otherwise noted, this material may only be used within this package/segment. Usage must cease on all platforms (including digital) within ten days of its initial delivery or such shorter time as designated by CNN.\n\n**STATIONS PLEASE NOTE: THIS NATPKG CONTAINS THE WORD "JACKASS" AT :29 AND :36 ON SCREEN THAT IS NOT BLURRED**\n\n --SUPERS--\n(prefonted)\n --LEAD IN--\nWHAT STARTED OUT AS BRINGING HOME A NEW PET DONKEY TURNED INTO A PASSION PROJECT FOR MARK MEYERS AND HIS WIFE AMY. \nMARK LEARNED THAT DONKEYS ARE A VERY MISUNDERSTOOD AND OFTEN ABUSED ANIMAL. \nHE STARTED RESCUING DONKEYS IN HIS AREA, GIVING THEM MEDICAL CARE AND CONNECTING THEM TO FOREVER HOMES. \nIN 2000, HE FOUNDED PEACEFUL VALLEY DONKEY RESCUE, WHICH HAS BECOME THE LARGEST DONKEY RESCUE IN THE COUNTRY AND HAS HELPED MORE THAN 13,000 DONKEYS TO-DATE.\nTHAT MAKES HIM ONE OF C-N-N'S TOP 10 HEROES OF 2019.\n --REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS--\n(music)\nMark Meyers: Donkeys speak to my soul.\nMark NAT: Hey guys!\nMark: Donkeys are like dogs…\nMark NAT: That’s some good stuff right there.\nMark: … they’re affectionate, they’re loyal, protective.\nNAT: donkey breath\nMark: They’re amazing animals that nobody gets. I understand what they’re thinking. Of all the animals, they’re the most Zen. They’re just in the moment. They’re never put off their game, but donkeys are misunderstood.\n(music)\nSOT: Bugs Bunny cartoon, Pinocchio cartoon\nMark: Bugs Bunny turned into a donkey when he did something stupid, Pinocchio turned into a donkey when he was overindulgent. Neither of those things are traits of donkeys, but the public thinks that that’s exactly what a donkey is.\n(music)\nMark: They have literally built this country on their backs and then they got left behind.\nMark NAT: This poor guy. Looks like he had a mouthful of bad teeth. He’s in several feet of filth.\nMark: Domestic donkeys are faced with abuse, neglect and abandonment, all really stemming from the fact that they have so little value that, “they’re not worth keeping, let’s get rid of it.”\n(music)\nMark: The other side of the coin is the wild donkeys. They’re gonna keep multiplying until the government is faced with hard decisions. We don’t want to see them being put down simply because there’s too many.\nMark NAT: This old girl here is Isabelle, and this was Amy and I’s first donkey ever.\nMark: My beautiful wife Amy bought Izzy and we just fell in love with her.\nMark NAT: Yup, that lip will come right loose, won’t it?\nMark: We had probably 25 donkeys when we decided that either we have a problem (laugh) or we’re gonna have to find a way to find homes for these donkeys.\n(music)\nMark: And that’s what birthed the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue. And so we created an adoption program so that more can come in and get saved.\n(music)\nNAT: donkeys galloping\nMark: We have racked up over 13,000 donkeys rescued. We are the largest donkey rescue in the world…\nNAT: corralling donkeys\nMark: …as far as physically going out and saving donkeys.\n(music)\nNAT: group of donkeys walking into corral, gate closing behind them\nMark: We’re constantly working. You are physically looking at every single individual animal in every single pen that we have.\nMark NAT: Feels like a gelding to me.\nMark: … because that’s crucial that we catch any problem immediately.\nNAT: trimming donkey hoof\nMark: If it’s hoof trimming time, we do that. Every year, every donkey gets a dental check.\nMark NAT: long in the tooth\nMark: And then of course, the training, which is most important part.\nMark NAT: up a little, up a little. Good job.\nMark: We can’t just send a wild donkey into somebody’s home and think it’s all gonna work out in the end. So we have to have the trainers.\nNAT: brushing donkey’s hair\nMark NAT: Leah’s gonna brush the entire body so there’s no goosey spots where they’re not used to being touched.\nMark: I think our success is because we quite literally didn’t know what the hell we were doing, and we let the donkeys teach us. And apparently, that was a pretty good plan.\n(music)\nNAT: tractor pushing hay bale\nMark: This job is hard.\nNATs: putting roll of grass into bucket, shoveling ground\nMark: I’ve pretty much broken most of my bones. I’ve been knocked unconscious.\nNAT: donkey kicking its leg\nMark: Emotionally is the harder part.\nMark NAT: I’m feeling the love.\nMark: The vision that I hold was to improve the plight of the American donkey. And there are so many donkeys and so many places that need so much help.\nMark NAT: There’s nothing cuter than a baby donkey.\nMark: We’re saving ‘em. We’re improving their lives, that at the end of the day, makes up for some of the atrocities.\nMark NAT: This is cheap therapy.\nMark: I know they have value. I know their contributions to our country. I wanna see every donkey find its happiness, its happy place, its peaceful place.\n(music)\n(end)\n -----END-----CNN.SCRIPT-----\n\n --KEYWORD TAGS--\n\n