A stray miniature donkey that was staying at the Humane Animal Welfare Society was reunited with its owner, according to a news release from the Waukesha-based animal shelter.

The efforts to reunite the donkey with its owner involved “a lengthy door-to-door search and great community involvement to spread the word about the animal’s plight,” the news release states.

 “The owner came forward on Saturday and we were able to get them reunited rather quickly that day,” said HAWS Executive Director Lynn Olenik in the release.

The miniature donkey was found around noon Wednesday, wandering on Highway 59 in the Town of Genesee.  The owner was unaware the donkey had gone missing because the donkey resides at a different location than the owner. The owner learned about the donkey through publicity about the missing donkey.

“It was so heart-warming to see the outpouring of care and support from our community to help an animal in need,” Olenik said in the release. “We received many referrals as to where the donkey could have come from, and even more offers to adopt him if his home wasn’t found. We know the word of mouth, social media and news stories absolutely made the difference in this case.”