He has one heck of a history! As a strapping 7-month old youngster, he was hit by a car at Alto Vista. The volunteers went to help right away when they got the call and, together with the vet, they put his broken front leg in a plaster cast and took him to the shelter. However, after ten days, the vet decided that things were not going well: he suspected that gangrene had set in. Amputation was the only solution, it seemed. But when the volunteers came to get Blackie, the vet had not amputated the leg: he saw a solution to save it. And yes, it might have taken a year, but this ravishing donkey recovered, with all four legs still functioning and in place. Blackie is a lovely, quiet donkey, who is enjoying life. He is black all over, which is very unusual in donkeys, hence his name.