I have a soft spot for donkeys since an incident which happened back when I was in high school.
My family lived in the suburbs and we had a backyard with a small swimming pool. One day I heard a donkey braying loudly, so I run outside only to discover a confused donkey standing in the empty swimming pool.
After a heated discussion about the best way to get a donkey out of a pool, we slipped a blanket under it's belly and, combing the forces of all 6 family members, managed to pull it out.
The donkey was wounded and had infected sores, so I took it to the vet and cared for it until it healed.
In the next few weeks the donkey gained weight by eating all the grass in our loan. Whenever we stepped outside it used to greet us with loud hee-haw hee-haws.
A few times I tried to ride on it in the streets of the neighborhood to the amusement of my high school mates, who passed us in their sports cars.
The donkey stayed with us for about two months until the owner came to pick it up. As the owner was walking it away, the donkey turned his head and gave me a last look and tears were streaming down its cheeks. It broke my heart.
So when I stumbled across this donkeys' safe haven on Facebook, I knew I had to pay it a visit.
We drove there one day with Sean and found a lovely farm with 215 gentle and affectionate donkeys which loved to be petted.
The sanctuary is run by an UK charity organization, dedicated to help working donkeys all over the world and providing life-long care to unwanted and abused donkeys.
To read more about the donkey sanctuary and/or to donate visit their site:
https://www.safehaven4donkeys.org
