Our Sand Paddock is now home to a group of nine mares and foals who have recently arrived at our Open Farm in Knockardbane.
Come meet Alina, April, Emily, Bradley, Evie, JoJo, Mistletoe, Ophelia, and Solus during your next visit.
The four mares and five foals were moved from Hannigan's, our largest farm, where our farm teams trained them and made sure they were comfortable travelling in our donkey trekker.
Alina, April, Emily and Bradley
Alina and Emily were rescued from a welfare case in West Cork, and they arrived at our sanctuary in May 2021. When they arrived, they were extremely thin and were struggling to walk on their long, untrimmed hooves. We discovered that the two mares were in foal when they arrived in our care, and April and Bradley were born at Hannigan's farm in early 2022.
Solus, Mistletoe and Evie
Solus and her foal Mistletoe were rescued from County Mayo at the end of 2021. The pair had suffered from years of neglect, and they were extremely weak when they first arrived, but with the right one-to-one care, the two made a full recovery. We soon discovered that Solus had arrived in foal, and she gave birth to Evie at the end of 2022. Evie needed extra veterinary care in the first few weeks of her life, including blood transfusions to build up her antibodies, but she is now doing brilliantly.
Ophelia and JoJo
Ophelia and her young foal, JoJo, arrived in our care at the end of January from a welfare case in County Offaly. They were extremely vulnerable to stress, and we were very concerned about their welfare. Our veterinary and farm teams helped them to adjust to life at Hannigan’s farm and JoJo is now full of confidence.
We're delighted to have these lovable mares and foals join our 150 rescued donkeys at our Open Farm, and we hope that you’re able to visit them soon.
We’re hopeful that they will help us to spread awareness of the challenges we face due to the issue of irresponsible breeding, one of the leading causes of the donkey welfare crisis in Ireland.
Without the care and support of The Donkey Sanctuary Ireland, the outcome for this group would have been very different. Unfortunately, many donkeys are still born in difficult circumstances.
Part of our mission is to educate donkey owners on proper donkey welfare, to prevent suffering, but this is only possible because of the generosity of our supporters. Your support means were able to get all these mares and foals the help that they needed, manage the extra cost of additional mouths to feed, as well as deal with the increasing demand and pressure on our farms.
