Three female donkeys neglected and abandoned in North Belfast have been taken into the care of The Donkey Sanctuary.
The donkeys were originally brought to the attention of the charity by a concerned individual who was alarmed at the length and distortion of the donkeys’ hooves and the apparent lack of an owner as there was no sign of care and management being shown to the animals.
Recently I watched the first of the Paddington Bear movies. It features a young cartoon bear from Peru whose home is destroyed and who subsequently travels to London in search of a new home. Finding himself lost the story ends happily with the bear evading the evil taxidermist and being accepted into the Brown family. Paddington Bear has been around since it was first written in 1958 and the revival of this popular story appeals to children and those like me, not so young, who remember reading it when they were children too.
Recently I travelled to a remote village down winding mountain lanes over an hour from any tarmac road - to attend a workshop for local veterinary students run by The Donkey Sanctuary Mexico staff. The only economic activity of significance in Santa Ana del Rio is the production of mezcal – a clear alcohol liquid distilled from locally-grown cactus in 15 licensed village pot-stills and involving hundreds of villagers and working equids in the process – at every stage from field to final product.
