A Maritime woman has saved an unusual animal from dying in an American slaughterhouse after launching an online fundraising campaign.

Ashleigh Benton regularly checks a Facebook page that posts photos of horses destined for either sale or slaughter at a New Jersey slaughterhouse. The page is destined to tug at the heartstrings of people like Benton.

“I get all these horses looking me in the face every day,” says Benton, who is originally from Saint John but now lives in Halifax. “They’re all unwanted. They’re neglected. They’re abused. And they need homes and rescuing.”

But one day, one animal stood out in particular. Benton admits she was immediately smitten with Zelda the Zonkey.

“She came across the page and she just caught my eye because she is the exotic hybrid that was bred to be that novelty,” says Benton. “You know, half zebra, half donkey, and then she ends up in the slaughter pipeline, which is very unfair.”

The six-year-old zonkey was on equine death row, until Benton took action.

“I’m a student. I don’t even have income at the moment. I’m actually paying for school so I thought, I can’t do this, but the more I looked at her, the more she got in there, you know, and I said, ‘I need to do this, so I guess I could fundraise for her.’”

Benton raised the $3,500 needed to buy Zelda, care for her, and bring her to the Maritimes through a GoFundMe page. Any additional funds raised will go to Zelda's long-term care and Benton says saving the zonkey may be just the start.

“My ultimate goal is to own and operate a rescue facility myself,” she says. “That’s my future plan. That’s my three-to-five year plan. I need some land and a barn.”

Benton recently visited Zelda at a temporary stable in Maine, where she has been getting veterinary care. The zonkey is destined for the Integrity's Haven Equine Rescue Centre in Chester Basin, N.S.

Border officials have been alerted that a zonkey is on the way and if all goes according to plan, Zelda should cross the border into Canada sometime this weekend.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron