On the 18th of January 2011, we had a phone call from a man asking us if we could go and pick up his father’s donkey. His father was very sick and in hospital facing many serious health problems. He was very worried about his father’s donkey as he couldn’t take care of it as he lived quite a distance away from the village, and there was no one else who could help.

So on the 19th of January 2011, we set off to see the donkey and pick her up. The donkey was tied up under some trees in a field exposed to the cold weather with no shelter. There was plenty of grass in the field so the donkey had no problem with food. We checked the donkey to ensure that she was fit to travel all the way to the sanctuary. Found her owner had taken good care of her as she was in quite good condition. The owner’s son explained that his father loved his donkey as she had worked for him for many years and he was very concerned about what would happen to her.

After a long journey back to the sanctuary, our staff warmly welcomed her and although she was now in a different environment, she looked happy about arriving at her new home with lots of other donkeys! She’ll be spending some time in the isolation unit were she will be having checks by our vet and farrier, she will receive flu and tetanus vaccinations and will be micro chipped and de-wormed. At the end of her isolation period, she will then join one of our groups to find new friends!

The village she came from is called Salamiou so we decided to name her after the village. So the shortened version is Sally! Sally is 30 years old and we hope that she will be spending a lot of time with us here at the sanctuary. We will make sure that she receives the love and care she deserves and we’re sure she will enjoy her retirement.