Gone But Not Forgotten

Mike's Story

Mike lived wild in the new forest for many years. He had many friends, and he was a leader of his own herd.

Several times every year there are auctions held in the new forest, and the ponies and donkeys that are no longer required are sold off. They often only reach a few pounds, and they are snapped up by horse dealers and meat traders.

Mike was quite old, and he was a Jack donkey, so he was not much use to anyone. We bought Mike from the auction and brought him back to Shropshire. He enjoyed his peaceful life in Shropshire, he was a very friendly donkey and loved a fuss. He very sadly died suddnely in February 2012 from a suspected heart attack.

You will be missed and never forgotton old boy x

 

 

 

Big Jessie's Story

"Big Jessie” came to Shropshire Donkey Rescue in November 2009. She arrived at a dealers yard with several other donkeys brought over from Europe, but when the wagon was unloaded, Jessie struggled to walk down the ramp with the other animals.

Jessie appeared to be lame on her feet and after a closer inspection it turned out she had scars from being hobbled. Her ears were both torn, and she had obviously been living the life from hell.

When a donkey is hobbled, his legs are often tied together to prevent the donkey from wondering off, they can spend most of their life in this way, waiting for the owners to untie them to do some work, before being tied up again. This is common practice in many countries abroad.

Sometimes the donkeys are tied with ropes around their necks and down to their feet, and the scaring that “Big Jessie” had would coincide with this. Jessie was only 9 years, and as a result of years of abuse she had permanent ligament damage in her legs and often struggled to stay standing all day. After x-rays were taken, it showed that her bones were so badly twisted in her feet, that the pressure on the bones and caused them to crumble inside her hooves. Our specialist equine vet said it was the “Worst case he had ever seen”.

She was the most friendly, gentle and beautiful Jenny you could wish to meet, and never showed aggression or malice. We made the heartbreaking decision to have her put to sleep in January 2011. We will all miss you Jess. x

Lily's Story

When Lily arrived at Shropshire Donkey Rescue, she was in a very poor way. She was painfully thin, infested with worms and lice, and one of her front feet was so badly crushed she could not even stand without assistance from the staff here.

Lily was very sad and depressed and she would not interact with other donkeys at all. It was heartbreaking to hear her try and bray to greet staff when they arrived with her bucket of bran for breakfast, but very little noise would be heard. She was just too weak.

Lily received intensive treatment from the farrier, and her feet improved so she could walk around a little bit with the other donkeys.

Soon after Lily arrived we received the news she was expecting a foal, this was a very risky time as she was extremely underweight and it was touch and go whether Lily – or the foal – would survive the birth. The foal was born on 7th June 2009 and named Rosie.

Lily was an excellent mother and raised her foal well, but she was still very lame on her feet. X-rays showed that the bone in her front foot had twisted beyond repair and causing her great pain on a daily basis, and after advice from 3 veterinary surgeons, the sad decision to have her put to sleep was made. At 30 years old, Lily was a lovely old lady, and we will miss you. x

Mr Darcy's Story

Mr Darcy arrived with a shipment from donkeys abroad, he came to us in a terrible state.
He was just four months old and had been taken away from his mother far too early.
He was so thin, he was just bone and skin. Our equine vet said that he had never seen an animal so thin, and still breathing. He could walk a little way, but he was so underweight you could literally scoop him up in your arms and move him from place to place.
 
After further inspection it was found that he had a heart murmer too.
 
We kept him warm and bottle fed him special milk every few hours, but after only having the pleasure of caring for him for a week, we found him dead in his stable. He was just too week to keep fighting.
Had Mr Darcy not been taken away from his mother so early, he may have survived as many horses and donkey can live a long time with heart murmers.
We are sorry we found you too late Mr Darcy.x

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