The Donkey Sanctuary now has seven rescue centres in mainland Europe, providing refuge to at least three new donkey arrivals every month.
The Donkey Sanctuary now has seven rescue centres in mainland Europe, providing refuge to at least three new donkey arrivals every month.
Since establishing rescue centres in Cyprus, Italy and Spain, and holding bases in France, Greece, Portugal and Romania, the Sanctuary has begun to tackle some of Europe’s welfare issues concerning donkeys head-on, and has rescued more than 800 animals from lives of misery.
Successful lobbying has put a stop to several cruel events including the annual beach festival in Sanlúcar de Barrameda in southern Spain, in which donkeys were being abused by drunken revellers. But sadly, harrowing reports of the donkeys’ neglected lives regularly filter through to the Sanctuary’s headquarters in Devon, including:
Silvia... (pictured right) in a shocking state of neglect when rescued in Italy in January 2010. She was pregnant, had painfully overgrown feet, was covered in lice and dangerously underweight, putting her and her un-born foal at great risk.
Shakira... (pictured above) desperately ill when rescued in Spain in April 2010. She was severely malnourished due to dental problems and an infestation of worms; she was riddled with lice causing intolerable itching and was suffering from a parasite disease of the blood.
Paul Svendsen, the Sanctuary’s director of work in mainland Europe, says: “We’ve a challenging future ahead of us. There are an estimated 900,000 donkeys on the continent, compared with around 25,000 in the UK, and there are far more welfare issues to deal with. Donkeys are exploited in tourism, purposely bred and transported in appalling conditions to satisfy the meat trade, are worked hard as draught and pack animals and are often abandoned when they are no longer useful.
“Our main rescue centres in Cyprus, Italy and Spain are open to the public and hold regular events to help raise awareness of our work and vital funds needed to maintain such a vast operation. So far, our work has been very well received, particularly in Italy where we had more than 1,000 visitors on our first open day!”
To find out more about our work in Europe, you can view recent stories and link through to the rescue centres’ individual websites below: