The golden girls... Our endearing donkey ladies

Their names may not be Blanche, Rose, Dorothy or Sophia, they don't even live in Miami... And they don't share a 1980s style apartment... but they are El Refugio del Burrito's very own "Golden Girls". Four elderly beauties with a lot of stories to tell and fond memories of their life at ERB to share with us all.

Hope, probably our most famous mare at El Refugio, is a lovely donkey and has probably gone through the worst experience of any of our other residents before joining us at the sanctuary. Originally from Greece, she used to work in the fields with her owner, until one night a group of teenagers trespassed into her paddock and brutally cut her ears off and ripped her back with a spade. Rapid intervention of vets and ready help from The Donkey Sanctuary saved her life and it was then decided to move her over to the closest sanctuary (which at the time was El Refugio del Burrito in Spain). She has been living in our Fuente de Piedra (Málaga) farm ever since and we are glad she is celebrating her 30th Birthday in a few months. She is an amazing example to us all because, in spite of what she had to endure, she still loves humans and is usually the first one to welcome visitors to our farm.

Bellota, a beautiful donkey that came from Galicia in northern Spain, is now 35 and is in considerably good shape despite her previous life. She was kept, together with six other mares, in a windowless concrete stable. All she ever did there was eat and produce manure for the vineyards; her owner never walked her or let her out for a bit of fresh air. When we found her she was half buried in her own faeces, as were her stable mates and she will always have leg and hoof conditions because of it. We are glad to say, though, that she now enjoys the best life a donkey can ever dream of at our Refugio, loving sunny afternoons in the company of her good friends Kuka and Lizabel.

Joanna is a pretty little donkey, aged 34, that came to us as part of a group of 18 donkeys from the Canary Islands, where she was living at Los Burros Felices, a donkey refuge run by Katrina and Phillip Townsend that, sadly, had to close down. Although she was already "old", she arrived in fine condition after the three day trip from the Islands, escorted by Phillip himself. Having lived all her life in such a tourist area, she's quite an expert at languages. For some reason still unknown to us, probably some private joke, when she is about to be fed, she doesn't bray like her paddock mates... She roars! Just like a lion! We suspect she wants the lion's share...such talented beauty does not go unnoticed and has quite a growing fan base at the farm.

Last but not least, is our eldest resident, Roberta. Roberta came in the same group of Galician donkeys as Bellota, and has endured the same bad conditions as her colleague. Now 38, she is respected and looked up to by younger donkeys in her paddock. She leads a quiet life enjoying her retirement in simple, but gratifying ways. She loves to take placid walks around her paddock, talking to other donkeys about days of yore and always keeping an eye on the quarantine area, to make sure all new residents are fine. She's also one for discipline and good manners, and will firmly snap at any naughtiness caused by younger residents.

All in all, we are more than happy to home such golden girls, and thought it was about time they got our humble tribute. To them goes this snippet of a song that truly relates to them:

"Hats off,
here they come these
Beautiful Girls,
Here's what
you've been waiting for.
Nature never fashioned
a flower so flair,
no rose can compare...
Each a gem,
a beautiful diadem
of beautiful...
Welcome them!
These beautiful girls!"

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