Sanctuary for distressed donkeys
The chief vet at Redwings Horse Sanctuary, near Norwich, was doing her rounds checking up on the donkeys which the centre is "babysitting" following their rescue.In January, the Redwings took in 21 neglected horses, ponies and donkeys rescued from a farm in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
Eighty animals, many of them emaciated, had been found alive alongside 32 dead horses piled up against fences.
More than 1,100 equines are in the care of Redwings, either with the charity permanently, looking for a new home or being looked after for other organisations such as the RSPCA.
Timothy the donkey was born at Redwings the day after his mother was brought to the centre from the Amersham farm.
He is thriving and has attempted to befriend three-month-old Esther, another rescued donkey.
The animals are being housed temporarily at Redwings, until it is decided whether they will be returned to the farm or found new homes.
Ms Jarvis said the commonest medical problem faced by donkeys was stress.
Poorly donkey
"Imagine the fussiest person you know on the planet and that would be the equivalent of a donkey," Ms Jarvis said.
"They don't like sudden changes in diet. Rain and cold together is fairly lethal for a donkey.
"They don't like being separated from friends - if you know a donkey's paired up with one you have to keep them together.
"So if ever a donkey's poorly you have to bring the friend in with it.
"But they are not the brightest creatures and you can bring in another donkey that looks similar to its friend and use it as a substitute - we once used a goat.
"If there's anything at all they don't like they tend to react by going off their food."
Worst case seen
A donkey not eating is at risk of developing hyperglycaemia.
"If they don't eat they do mobilise the fat stores, but it is in the form of globules in the blood and it can settle out in the liver and kidneys and they actually end up with very bad liver damage," Ms Jarvis said.
Lynn Cutress, chief executive of Redwings, said: "One of our vets has been here 16 years and he felt that the Amersham case was one of the worst he had seen.
"We do have a lot of major rescues which we do, but not always all on one day like that one.
"The previous largest one we had was 72 ponies in one day in 2004."
posted by Horse Deals at
10:17 am
1 Comments:
The donkey is actually quite a hardy animal if kept in a state that suits his natural origins ,as essentially a desert animal.One who needs sparse roughage for food, that he has to walk miles to browse upon.
Take him out of suitable surrounds without allowing for his needs,and he will be prone to ail from /no exercise /unsuitable food/too much of it/no natural wear on teeth from browsing etc and you will have potential for an ill aniaiml .They are also a very intelligent loya and hard working animal and those who do not find them so..probably do not understand donkeys and the donkey will respond acordingly. Studies on social structure feral herds of donkeys show they do not for instance,pair up ,Nor form herds like horses and be held by a jack-rather they move in and out of territory ,sometimes in small groups sometimes alone,as they need eg availabilty of feed/to be bred.The loud call and large ears is part of the desert adaptation of aniamls living distances apart.The fact is-most 'pet' donkeys get no training to be indepenadant and so become unnaturally dependant on each other just as horse would who have never been seperated..its a man made problem .Donkeys are great -in the right hands.
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