October 2008

We have now taken into care over 600 donkeys in Europe; many of these have come from terrible circumstances. One of the major problems that we have had to combat is the immense distances involved in transporting donkeys from where they are rescued to one of our established bases. To combat this, we have come up with a new way of expanding our operation, which reduces this problem. Where we have major problems, such as Romania and Greece, we will licence the existing holding bases or find new or existing holding bases, so that the donkeys can stay there on a permanent basis rather than having to be shipped thousands of miles back to our home base. Each holding base will have to be rigorously checked to make sure that it complies with The Donkey Sanctuary standards and we will be checking on the donkeys at least six times every year to make sure that the best standards are maintained. In this way, we will be able to expand our operation throughout Europe much more effectively.

One of the many problems we come across in Southern Europe is donkeys being either hobbled or tied to trees. In many cases the hobbles badly damage the legs or ropes tied around donkeys' necks can actually go into the skin. Whenever we find cases like this we try to educate the owners as to how they could stop these types of injuries happening in the future. Very often this means providing them with the proper equipment to ensure that the animals suffer no further.

In Italy we have discovered a breeding station that has over 600 donkeys, which are used to produce milk and other products, such as soap and special skincare products. Unfortunately, these donkeys are not properly cared for. Our Italian General Manager has told me that in the process of trying to improve this establishment, as is always the case in these matters, cost seems to come before welfare. In many European countries the animal welfare legislation is very poor but things are improving and as more and more legislation becomes available it helps our cause immensely.

In Santorini progress has been slow due to bureaucracy and red tape, despite our best efforts. We do now have the help of Stelios of EasyJet and EasyCruise fame behind us and we are pushing to get a code of practice in place, protecting the donkeys used to carry tourists up the mountain track and we are still trying to provide shelters at the top and the bottom of the steps, to shade the donkeys from the worst of the sun.