On Saturday we had a call to say, yes the donkey could come to us, so we agreed to collect it in the trailer the following day, so we set off in convoy to this remote village east of where we live. Yiannis’s father had a stroke and as his mother is 86 they decided it was best that the donkey should come to us. After meeting the donkey, now called Bobby, we went to mother's house and had some delicious food and their own excellent krassi (wine). Then the process of loading Bobby. We have learned that a donkey likes to see first what you are asking it to do, then, it will be alright, without pushing and pulling. They also quickly balance themselves in the trailer.
Bobby had been well looked after by his owners, who had used him to work until a few weeks ago. Being in a remote village they would not know that there was a fully qualified farrier based in Crete.
Later this month we have a specialist equine vet coming whose visit is undertaken by the Greek Animal Welfare Fund and paid for by The Donkey Sanctuary. During this visit we treat working donkeys in the surrounding area, so those few days will be very busy feeding, cleaning etc. the 16 we have, driving round the villages to find donkeys and advise the owners when the vet and farrier will be coming.
As you can imagine, what we do comes at a price and Crete is now a very expensive place. Hay which we feed the donkeys costs 12 euros a bale here compared with 3 in northern Europe. If there is any way you wish to assist please contact us.
Alistair