Last 14th January we were involved in probably the worst case of neglectment of El Refugio del Burrito. We rescued more than 20 equids living amongst waste and dead bodies of other animals. We got the case thanks to an anonymous letter received by post asking for help for those animals.
When the staff arrived a horror movie scene shocked them. 21 equids were living amongst the waste and dead bodies of other animals.
No shelter from the burning sun, no relief from intense, relentless pain. No human kindness to keep him safe. Pedro was fighting for his life.
When we think of Malaga in southern Spain, most of us think of sunshine, but the area was hit by heavy rain over the weekend with over 120mm failing in just 12 hours. Some of you may have seen from our Facebook page that El Refugio del Burrito placed in Fuente de Piedra (Malaga) was badly affected.
Yesterday our team battled the elements to ensure that donkeys were evacuated from flooded areas of the sanctuary as this short video clip shows.
Since the Donkey Sanctuary established its Spanish base in 2003 (el Refugio del Burrito), one of its priorities has been to improve the welfare of the donkeys working in Mijas. Back then, the NGO started to take donkeys that were unfit for work into its sanctuary, carrying out regular health inspections on the working animals, advising owners on basic care and behaviour and even providing free veterinary treatment for those donkeys that needed hoof and dental care.
“The dark coloured female donkey is nothing but skin and bone; she is lying on the floor, she doesn’t move, and she has got open wounds on her back. When she tries to stand up, the dog bites her and the donkey yells in pain…” It was the desperate message sent to the NGO El Refugio del burrito in August 2015 about a donkey found in some facilities at Quart de Poblet, Valencia.
Today, 4th of October, coinciding with the World Animal Day, Rosie’s trial has been held in the Court of Valencia.
Last April, a neighbor from the town of Felix (Almería, Spain) alerted the Civil Guard of the existence of a rural house where 2 donkeys -an elderly female and a young male- were in a state of neglect for several months.
On a Wednesday morning, our welfare team received a picture of female donkey, who was almost completely hairless and covered in wounds. The man who had found her and sent the picture was desperately asking for help as he didn’t know what to do with this poor soul. Our team quickly sprang into action, and set out to help this donkey, Flor.
Do you feel like having an authentic local experience of life within our sanctuary, sharing half a day with our 77 rescued donkeys and mules and our local staff and volunteers? Now it is possible thanks to Airbnb social impact experiences, who chose us to be part of their programme with 100% of the profits going towards our donkeys.
At 31-years-old, when the time had come where she was no longer strong enough to work, elderly donkey Anastasia was left to suffer in what must have been unbearable conditions – literally being eaten alive by maggots. But Anastasia proved she still had a tremendous amount of strength in her and pulled through with our help and a kind neighbour.
After 5 years of working in El Rocío, we measured a significant improvement in animal welfare. This is the result of the collaborative work of the NGO with SEPRONA and the City Council of Almonte.The pilgrimage ends in 2018 with 30% fewer interventions for animal welfare.
95% of the animals have good physical conditions and have their basic needs covered. The cases of abuse are very specific, representing less than 5%. This are the lowest figures of the last 5 years, but the work continues. El Rocio 2018 ends with 9 equine deaths, 48 interventions for animal welfare problems and 3 rescued mules.
