An elderly donkey is causing a bucket load of mischief at breakfast time at the Sidmouth-based Donkey Sanctuary by breaking into the feed room!

While staff are busy in the mornings preparing a special breakfast for a group of 26 elderly donkeys, who due to their old age have lost most of their teeth, 32-year old Frosty is taking it upon herself to open the feed room door - with her two remaining teeth!

Frosty who lives at Paccombe Farm, one of the Sanctuary’s nearby outlying farms, pulls down the door handle, pulls back the door and lets herself in so that she can be first in the queue for her breakfast.

Kate Jones, who helps care for Frosty, says: “It was quite cute and funny when Frosty first started coming into the feed room but now it’s making my job take much longer as I have to catch her and lead her back out!”

Frosty and her companions all have a Sanctuary for life at Paccombe Farm where they will receive a life time of loving care and attention. Paccombe Farm is currently home to 299 donkeys and is not usually open to the public. However, the main Sanctuary at Sidmouth is open 365 days a year.

To view Frosty in action visit The Donkey Sanctuary’s website at www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/frosty

The Donkey Sanctuary has a free downloadable ‘Guide to Caring for your Donkey’ and a number of fact sheets which cover topics such as Care for the Geriatric Donkey and Feeding the Elderly Donkey. For further information visit the Sanctuary's website or call the Welfare Advice team on 01395 578222.

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