Lisa, a 28 year old donkey, received a visit from her previous owner today. It was a magical moment to behold.
Bev Preece and her husband, Colin, have come down from the Lake District to spend a few days in the area and dropped in to see Lisa.
Last time they saw her was two years ago while on their honeymoon. Bev said: "I didn't think she would remember me, but she did."
There is a very special bond between Bev and Lisa and there's one trick that Lisa will do for nobody else. "I used to give Lisa polos as a treat and would ask her to say 'please'. When I asked, she would paw the ground and I would give her a polo".
Jen Littley, one of our grooms, said "I've told so many people about this lovely story and have even tried asking Lisa to say please, but no luck".
Bev and Colin were clearly thrilled to see Lisa again. While they were spending time with her, Colin made a quick phone call and placed it next to Lisa's ear so her "Nanna" could say hello too.
Bev said that Lisa used to live in a field with another horse and a foal and she used to go and see her. Eventually Bev got to know the owner and said "If ever you decide to sell your donkey, please let me have first refusal. Back then I used to work in a shop and was surprised when the owner came to see me at work the very next day and asked if I still wanted to buy her donkey …and that was that."
Bev goes on to say: "Lisa lived in a field with geese who used to sit on her back and she never seemed to mind! "
"I used to take her for walks around the local villages. One time she pinched an ice cream. I was so scared because I didn't have any money at the time to replace it. The man had stopped to stroke her and she turned round and bit off the top of his ice cream!"
How wonderful for the donkey and the ex-owners to get a chance to spend some time together again! A story with a real feel good factor :-)
When we realised our donkeys had to leave us (they developed asthma living here), we knew there was only one place that we could rehome them to, The Donkey Sanctuary. From that day to this, I know that we made the right decision. The boys have been at Town Barton Farm now for four and a half years and during that time there has barely been a month that we have not travelled down from Norfolk to see them. I cannot praise the staff highly enough for the care that they have received since they have been in the The Donkey Sanctuary.
So getting back to the subject in hand, do donkeys forget? Well ours certainly haven't forgotten us but then again with us visiting every four weeks, I don't think they really get a chance!
Thank you again for all that you do for our long-eared friends :-)
I am sure they never forget someone who really loved them. One of our 2 Sanctuary foster donkeys, Arthur, had a loving home for 20 years, his owner had him as a foal. Having been widowed and becoming frail, she had relinquished him to the Sanctuary and some years late he came to live with us. I sent her frequent photos of Arthur with his new pal Bill and eventually someone brought her to see him. This was the first time she had seen Arthur IN 9 YEARS as she lived a great distance away.
She was sure he would not remember her and seemed almost afraid to see him for that reason. Not wanting her to be upset, I said he might just pretend not to know her and we took carrots & apples to attract both donkeys. Sure enough, Arthur showed no interest when she called him and then suddenly dashed up and pushed Bill out of the way - something that never happened as Bill was always The Boss! We couldn't make out what triggered his memory but he certainly DID REMEMBER, because he never behaved like that with any visitor before or after. Sylvia (yes, we shared the same name) then spent some very happy time cuddling him, which was very touching as she was a tiny frail lady and Arthur was a very large donkey.
When she left, she paid me the greatest compliment of my life, saying "Thank you for loving my Arthur, I have always felt guilty about sending him away but now I know I did the right thing". Sadly, she was never able to visit again but Arthur spent many happy years with us and died here peacefully in my arms, with his pal Bill beside him. I had handed him back to his 'other Sylvia'.