The Donkey Sanctuary and many of its supporters have been appalled and shocked by the story in this week’s international news about the cruelly treated donkey in Russia.

According to varying reports, we understand that the female donkey made to parasail over a beach resort in Russia last week, as part of an advertising publicity stunt, has been rescued by The Sun newspaper and declared healthy by a veterinarian.

We are extremely disappointed to hear reports that the owner of this donkey will not be facing criminal charges for the appalling act of cruelty that was inflicted upon his donkey. We are not only deeply concerned that the owner should go unpunished for allowing an act of such mindless mistreatment to go ahead, but also about the message that a lack of legal consequences sends out to those who do not give animal welfare the priority that it deserves.

We are in a position to offer a sanctuary for life to the donkey at our rescue centre in Romania, which has specialist facilities and expert staff to care for donkeys. We would not transport this donkey to the UK due to the welfare implications and stress involved of such a long-distance journey.