Baby Poitous Pass Tests : Sonette to Get 3 Warm and Fuzzy Companions

Sonette, the rare French donkey who last year was slapped with a death sentence for failing U.S. Department of Agriculture blood tests, will have some company at her home here beginning this week--three fuzzy baby donkeys of the same breed.

“They are so tiny--only about 3 feet high--and so adorable,” said Dr. Sharon Vanderlip, a UC San Diego staff veterinarian who, along with her husband, Jack, imported Sonette and the younger trio of Poitou donkeys from France. “We’ll have them home before Thanksgiving.”

The new arrivals, two males and a female each 5 months old, have been passing time in a stall at Los Angeles International Airport’s USDA quarantine station since they stepped off an Air France jetliner on Wednesday. Over the weekend, the donkeys took federal tests for admission to this country--tests Sonette initially failed but later passed--and were given a clean bill of health, Vanderlip said Monday.

“They passed with flying colors, but we didn’t want to transport them right away because the 12-hour flight from France was pretty stressful,” she said. “By Tuesday or Wednesday, they should be all rested up and ready for the trip.”

The Vanderlips traveled to the Bordeaux region of France and purchased the three recently weaned, 250-pound baby donkeys as part of their effort to reestablish the Poitou breed, which now numbers only 50 worldwide.

The veterinarians, who own a ranch in this rural area, also hope to crossbreed the large, good-tempered donkeys with Mulassier draft horses to produce Poitou mules, which once powered European agriculture. The breeds became nearly extinct after World Wars I and II, when the animals died in battle or were killed for food, Vanderlip said.

Sonette, now 18 months old and as big as a horse, made headlines late last year when USDA officials ordered her destroyed or deported for failing tests designed to detect equine diseases. News of the donkey’s plight sparked political pressure that persuaded the USDA to modernize its testing methods, which have been used since 1910 and are said to be unfair to donkeys, mules, zebras and other exotic equines, which have an unusual substance in their blood.

Publicity about Sonette’s monthlong quarantine and harsh sentence made the mild-mannered donkey a celebrity. Letters, invitations and offers of help flooded in. Johnny Carson queried the Vanderlips about a guest appearance. There is even talk about a Sonette doll.

“It was very heartening,” Vanderlip said.

But the fame, Sonette’s owners have found, has a down side, one that, ironically, may doom their plan to rescue the big-eared donkeys from extinction.

“You can’t save a breed with just four animals, so of course we need to bring more donkeys over,” Vanderlip said. “The problem is, the publicity that saved Sonette has made the Poitou donkey so much in demand that people with a lot more money than we have are going to France and offering much higher sums than we could ever afford.

“Basically, we’ve been priced right out of the market.”

Vanderlip declined to specify what a baby Poitou goes for on the open market these days, but she did say it is “several thousands of dollars.” Then there are the air travel costs--$10,000 for the three babies--and quarantine charges, roughly $100 per day per animal.

“It adds up quick,” Vanderlip said.

Whether or not they can overcome the financial obstacles and reestablish the breed worldwide, the Vanderlips are at least likely to increase their Olivenhain herd--as soon as Sonette qualifies for motherhood, that is.

“It will be over a year, because the females have to be 3 before they can breed, and then there’s a one-year gestation period,” Vanderlip said.

Meanwhile, Sonette is learning how to pull a cart and will join one or two of the baby newcomers in a special Christmas appearance at the San Diego Zoo from Dec. 20 through New Year’s Day.