Star Tribune
Tiptoe the seeing-eye donkey finds purpose in helping fellow animals and people, too
Tiptoe, a two-year-old donkey that provides therapeutic services to humans and serves as a seeing-eye guide for blind animals, has become a bit of a local celebrity lately as demand booms for his unique visits to treatment centers.
But he didn’t have an easy start to life.
A few days after Tiptoe was born at Save the Brays Donkey Rescue sanctuary in Milaca, Minn., handlers discovered his mother had stomped on his neck and all four feet. Tiptoe suffered serious and permanent injuries, and would spend more than a month in an intensive care unit — the first of several stints.
Later, he nearly lost a foot following a hypothermic episode. The long hospital stays made Tiptoe especially comfortable around humans as they replaced his mother as his nurturers, said the donkey’s owner, Erin Larson of Minnetonka.
“He was fed on a bottle in the rescuer’s house, and I think he truly identifies as a human,” she said.
The unusual upbringing made Tiptoe different from most donkeys. But his affectionate, calm demeanor also made him perfect to help out blind animals.
The sanctuary paired Tiptoe with a donkey that couldn’t see and put a bell around his neck so his blind friend could follow. The bell rings as Tiptoe moves about, letting the other donkey know where to go to find food, water and even shelter if it starts raining or snowing.
Larson, who is not with the Save the Brays sanctuary, later adopted Tiptoe. She paired him with a blind horse she owns — Ty — that also needed help. Donkey and horse now live together at a barn in Corcoran.
“Tiptoe is there when things are scary, or if it’s windy, and Ty gets disoriented,” Larson said. “He can hear that bell, and ‘Tippy’ will calm him down.”
When Tiptoe and Ty were introduced, they became immediate friends, she said, and began giving each other affectionate scratches.
“Everyone just started crying,” she said.
The affection Tiptoe showed for people also inspired Larson to bring him to memory care facilities to provide therapy. He often pays visits to people with dementia.
On Thursday, Larson took Tiptoe to the home of a couple with dementia in Deephaven. It was their first visit to a private home.
Harmony Gallegos, who is a caretaker for the couple, said their eyes “lit up” when they saw a donkey in a Christmas elf costume waltz into their carpeted living room to give them hugs and hang out. She said she was shocked that the woman she cares for, Mary, still remembered and gushed about Tiptoe the next day.
“Tiptoe would lean his head into her and wanted nothing but a cheek-to-cheek kind of connection,” Gallegos said. “He was loving that she was kissing his nose; he just stayed so calm for it.”
The visit also brought back old memories the woman had of raising donkeys and horses, she said.
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“The break that it gives the caregivers and the people with their form of dementia is so heartwarming, Gallegos said
Afterward, the group did some painting together. Larson put a canvas and paint in a Ziploc bag and some grain on top so Tiptoe could press his nose down onto it and make a painting atop the couple’s laps.
Where other donkeys prefer staying home, relaxing in their stalls, Larson said she thinks Tiptoe has become passionate about helping blind animals and offering therapy for people.
“We truly think he found his purpose,” she said.
Tiptoe especially enjoys spending time with babies and elderly people, Larson said. He seems to match the energy of whoever he’s around.
“He doesn’t nip, he never kicks; he just gets it,” she said.
Larson said a wide range of facilities are now asking that Tiptoe stop by. He is scheduled to visit a children’s nursery next week. Nonprofits and shelters have also been asking about visits, Larson said.
Meanwhile, a search is on to find Tiptoe a custom pair of Nike shoes for walking on noncarpeted floors. Recently, Larson started charging for Tiptoe’s visits to pay handlers, but she said no one will be turned down. She has also had offers for donations to help cover donkey visits for people who can’t afford them.
These days, Tiptoe lives in a stall with a sign that reads, “Tiptoe’s Kissing Booth.” He gets a lot of attention from people who pass through the barn, Larson said: “Every day, like 10 to 15 women stop and give him smooches on their way through.”
The only debate between DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and GOP challenger Royce White started Sunday on the street outside WCCO Radio.
As White approached the building, he loudly called some two dozen flag-waving and cheering Klobuchar supporters a “whole lot of commies.” The 33-year-old provocateur and podcaster also told them to thank Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney — who endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — because there was “no chance in hell” that Harris would defeat Republican former President Donald Trump on Nov. 5.
Klobuchar, 64, had arrived moments earlier, smiling and wishing “good morning” to her supporters. Once inside, the two took questions for an hour from moderator Blois Olson. Their tone was generally polite with White often interrupting a Klobuchar response with, “rebuttal,” indicated he wanted to respond.
The senator repeatedly raised White’s claims on X, formerly Twitter, that “The bad guys won in World War II” and that there were “no good guys in that war.” She called that stance offensive to veterans.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar arrives at WCCO Radio for a debate with Royce White in Minneapolis on Sunday, Oct. 27. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii)
Klobuchar, who is seeking a fourth six-year term, portrayed herself as a pragmatist. She opened by saying that we live in “incredibly divisive times politically” but that she has listened and worked with Republicans to bring down shipping costs, drug prices for seniors and to help veterans and push for more housing and child care.
“Courage in this next few years is not going to be standing by yourself yelling at people,” she said, her opening allusion to White’s rhetoric, which she said is often vulgar.
White, a former NBA player, is a political novice, but a close ally of Steve Bannon, the jailed former chief strategist for Trump and right wing media executive. Last summer, White won the state GOP endorsement to run against Klobuchar.
“Our country’s coming undone at the seams. I think we can change that,” White said in his opening statement. He said he threatens the status quo, decried the “permanent political class” and referred to the two major parties as the “uniparty.”
Other buildings destroyed at Khojir and Parchin likely included buildings where Iran used industrial mixers to create the solid fuel needed for its extensive ballistic missile arsenal, Eveleth said.
In a statement issued immediately after the attack Saturday, the Israeli military said it targeted ”missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year.”
Destroying such sites could greatly disrupt Iran’s ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles to replenish its arsenal after the two attacks on Israel. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which oversees the country’s ballistic missile program, has been silent since Saturday’s attack.
Iran’s overall ballistic missile arsenal, which includes shorter-range missiles unable to reach Israel, was estimated to be ”over 3,000” by Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, then-commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command, in testimony to the U.S. Senate in 2022. In the time since, Iran has fired hundreds of the missiles in a series of attacks.
There have been no videos or photos posted to social media of missile parts or damage in civilian neighborhoods following the recent attack — suggesting that the Israeli strikes were far more accurate that Iran’s ballistic missile barrages targeting Israel in April and October. Israel relied on aircraft-fired missiles during its attack.
However, one factory appeared to have been hit in Shamsabad Industrial City, just south of Tehran near Imam Khomeini International Airport, the country’s main gateway to the outside world. Online videos of the damaged building corresponded to an address for a firm known as TIECO, which advertises itself as building advanced machinery used in Iran’s oil and gas industry.
Some take him up on it and fret when he’s not around.
“It is nice to be missed and be part of the school’s culture,” Arzola said. But mostly, he added, he wants kids to know that police aren’t around just for when the bad stuff happens. He’ll hand out his stickers and bracelets, even a trading card bearing his image. Then, they’ll talk about dogs and family.
School resource officer Al Arzola talks to students in his office at John Adams Middle School in Rochester on Oct. 11. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Two months ago, Rochester played host to a three-day training session for new SROs from across the state — an event organized by the Minnesota School Safety Center. On the final day, the 26 officers learned about surveillance challenges at the other school where Arzola works: Dakota Middle School.
It is a beautiful building with a scenic view. There is a lot of glass, too. Arzola, handling the role of instructor and tour guide, took the group outside and noted how one could look straight through the entrance to the large groups that gather inside. There were no curbs in front, either.
“There is nothing stopping any vehicle whatsoever from going through my front doors,” Arzola told the officers. “Law enforcement wasn’t talked to before this building was made. It was kind of like, ‘Here it is. You’re the SRO. Do what you do.’”
He showed them his office, too, which is separate from the main office and near those of other school support staff members. That makes sense, said Jenny Larrive, SRO coordinator for the Minnesota School Safety Center, given than SROs spend more time connecting with youth than on actual law enforcement.
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Indiana Fever fire coach Christie Sides after Caitlin Clark’s breakout season
Pennsylvania top election official says that 2020 ligation upheld that “elections were accurate”