Donkey Neha grazes on fresh hay while her foal, J, peers over her head at the camera.
Sweet baby J is fearless and happy—everything her mama never got to be when she was growing up.

Neha was thin and pregnant, and her owner was whipping her to move along with more than 200 pounds of bricks on her back at the kiln where she was forced to work. Her foal was going to be born into the same life of endless labor. But what Neha didn’t know was that Animal Rahat was pushing for her freedom, and she would have it before the little bundle inside her was ready to meet the world! The group mechanized the kiln, rescuing Neha and 17 other donkeys. All now live at its Sangli sanctuary, where little J came into the world some months later. She’s a healthy, tiny foal who loves to zip about or cuddle—and the beautiful girl will never have to lift so much as a pebble!