A safe future together for donkey foursome

Two pairs of donkeys in our care are enjoying the beginning of a blossoming friendship after being matched together.

Bobby and Rupert, two donkeys relinquished from a home in Bristol, are currently sharing their sanctuary journey alongside Punk and his father Soldier, who lived at a site in Wiltshire.

The four donkeys arrived at our state-of-the-art donkey hospital at Brookfield Farm, Devon within a month of each other at the beginning the year, and have been living at our Sidmouth New Arrivals Unit since June.

Our Senior Donkey Welfare Adviser Sarah Kenward first encountered Bobby and Rupert in October last year. The two donkeys had several health issues, but most concerning for Sarah, Bobby was ‘completely emaciated’.

Punk and Soldier also had a sad story; they were living in a muddy field alongside cattle and dangerous debris when Donkey Welfare Adviser Jenna Goldby first observed them.

The small parcel of land was a quagmire of deep mud and strewn with scrap, including corrugated metal, wire netting and car tyres.

There was no shelter for Punk and Soldier to evade the elements, and the deep, congealing mud meant they were unable to comfortably lie down and rest.

A new start

After being brought into our care, the four donkeys’ journeys began under the watchful eye of Lead Vet Groom Karen Hughes, who was introduced to them at Brookfield Farm, shortly after they were recovering from being castrated.

Despite their time at the sanctuary, Bobby and Rupert were still nervous around new people, as Karen explains: “They were quite suspicious of me being someone they hadn’t met before, but through some training and food rewards, became very friendly.

“At first, when I walked in, they would run away and wouldn’t approach me. If I tried to catch them, they’d be gone.

“However, being a constant presence around them helped break down those barriers of mistrust.”

Karen experienced the same response when she was first introduced to Punk and Soldier, though from only one half of the pair.

While Soldier was very friendly from day one, Punk was tricky to catch and required gentle persuasion in the form of food rewards to become more comfortable with Karen’s presence.

To help the two pairs get used to mixing with a larger herd, the decision was made to introduce them to each other.

This way, the four donkeys would be acclimatised to the herd dynamics they would face in a larger group once they had fully recovered.

“We wanted to put them together,” she says. “So we did a phased introduction.

“The donkeys first met each other through a barred gate, so they could sniff each other. They all had a good smell before we introduced them to each other in the paddock.

“At first, they kept in their pairs and stood away from each other, but they have now become very tolerant of each other.”

A brighter future

The four donkeys have since relocated to our New Arrivals Unit together, and there have been encouraging signs from one of the donkeys in particular.

Punk has made promising progress with his health and behaviour, thanks to the dedication of the grooms.

Sara Blair-Salter, our New Arrivals Unit Manager, says: “Punk has been steadily gaining weight with us, and his overall condition has improved. 

“He is much more comfortable being handled now and our grooms continue to work on this daily with him. 

“We are encouraged by Punk’s progress, and we hope that with more improvements, he and Soldier will become eligible for our Rehoming Scheme later down the line.”