Donkey Sanctuary

[Panikos]

I'm not an animal person normally, but I find Donkeys to be charming creatures and for some reason they are despised and often mistreated.

So I help support a sanctuary called Safe Haven which rescues them and gives them a permanent home.

In return I get an awful lot of donkey pictures/videos which brighten up the day.

I know they are not really smiling and grinning, but they look like they are.

Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land

[merry]

I adore donkeys too, and have adopted two, Jordy and Burnie (whose story is so harrowing I will not tell it here but he is happy now

I love to watch them on their webcam!

This is the wonderful Moussa, who cares for all 250 donkeys 6 days a week, starting at 3am!



Their latest newsletters

Safe Haven for Donkeys was set up in 2000 to help the thousands of working donkeys in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Today, our sanctuary in Israel is providing life-long care to around 200 unwanted and abused donkeys of all ages but the charity’s work does not stop at the sanctuary gates.

Each month, our mobile clinic helps around 500 working donkeys, mules and horses across the Palestinian Territories and we also have a permanent clinic in the Palestinian city of Nablus. Common injuries such as those from poor harnessing, overgrown hooves and bad teeth are easily treatable and go a long way in improving the lives of the animals who work so hard for so little.

Advice and education are key parts of Safe Haven’s work with the owners and their children. Through our dedication and gentle approach, the team has many many friends and is treated with trust and respect.

Our work looking after the residents of Safe Haven and reaching out to those donkeys pulling carts, carrying loads or abandoned when too old or injured to work is vital.

[TRavine]

Oh, this is lovely! These sancturies do such important work. I have a sponsorship for a very old horse, who has also been through a lot and is now living her last days at one of these sancturies, being cared for.

I grew up in a small town, surrounded by farms, and as a kid, I was really into animals. As I grew up, I kind of stopped caring about them so much, I became pretty much indifferent to them, because I moved to the city and was not exposed to them.

It has only been in recent years that I rediscovered my love for them. Now, I'm actually an animal rights advocate. There are so many animals who depend on us, because they could not survive without our help, so many individual stories and such charming beings. Truly, this is precious!

[Panikos]

I've never been one for pets, but animals in their natural environment are something else. I grew up in London so I only really got to see them on TV or in a zoo. Now I'm older I'm against zoos too though wildlife parks can be better.

I like to think of that horse you sponsor getting a reward for years of service. Merry will tell you about a horse they retired to pleasant fields when he was no longer in his prime and that's as it should be.

I'm not a vegan/vegetarian, but I am opposed to treating them badly while they are alive. We should be better than that.

Sadly the universe seems to have it in for donkeys and they get a lot of mistreatment, neglect and outright cruelty. Not so badly in the UK because we enforce cruelty laws, but we also support the Donkey Sanctuary here in the UK as they provide a rescue service which handles a lot of badly neglected animals.

[merry]

Merry will tell you about a horse they retired to pleasant fields when he was no longer in his prime and that's as it should be.

Ah yes, our lovely boy Clyde, who worked well for us (with us!) and brought home more rosettes and awards than we can count, always giving his best. He had no pedigree, just a mongrel pony, but he was amazingly talented and not only that he was always so co-operative, you could take him anywhere to a show and KNOW he'd never let us down in any way (blooming Pepper is a constant shock to us in the way she is so NOT like this, ha). When he was 30 we retired him to graze in a herd of horses on the nearby hill. He was so happy there for two years! we visited him regularly, still had his feet and teeth done etc, but basically he had been freed. I still get teary when I think of him. He used to come down the hill when he saw us, making his 'apple noise' (a sort of rumbling harrummmmmphrumppphhh')

Look at this gorgeous chap from Safehaven. His name is probably Timothy or something else rather unsuitable

[merry]

I make no apology for asking that if anyone has not got their own favourite Smile charity (the Amazon scheme where they donate 0.5% of your purchase towards your chosen charity at no cost to you) please to consider choosing Safehaven

Earn Money For Safe Haven By Shopping With Amazon Smile

Funny donkey noses

[merry]

Lovely happy patient sweet donkeys enjoying watermelon