Hi Jane and everybody!
I was going to do an update soon with some photos, but you beat me up to it.
We collected Tricana (that´s her name) on Saturday, after an eventful day...
She was very lame, very itchy and her wounds was fested with flies. She moved with severe difficulty and her owner coaxed by slapping hr in her legs with a rope... that's how donkeys are handled by their farming owners.
While I was waiting for the owner to bring her out of the field, Diogo had gone into the farmer's house and he took a long time...
'Men', I thought... I was starting to feel annoyd with the waiting, when suddenly I watched a group of people in the far distance, and DM was following behind with a stupid
on his face as he turned to me, bringing another geriatric donkey along...
I thought...
...So, there we were, in an old bashed cattle lorry, loaned by our farming landlord, already with Gaiato on (who had been taken to a wedding that morning 200km away), loading two new donkeys, without having our quaranteene facilty prepared.
But time was urging; we had to make the most of it from having the old lorry that day; we had to get to this jenny before the knacker got hold of her, and then Diogo was given this other ancient donkey, who would go for the zoo as well, if we didn't take him here and there :(.
In short, we left the farmyard with one donkey that morning - Gaiato - and we returned with three. The farmer
when he saw us arriving back; "the miracle of the multiplication of donkeys", he said
Now we have another resident. Carocho, a big, strong, shaggy brown donkey, in his thirties, with a very strong personality. Carocho is filthy, his hooves look like satelite dishes, all cracked due to over-growth and he is rather thin. He also eats very slowly. In short, another case for the vet; he needs dental work, trimming and to attend to his skin, as well as getting dewormed.
His photos will follow shortly.
But hell! when we let them out, Duende, the little Miranda colt (who is waiting for the vet to come and geld him
) was a right nuissance, mounting the new pregnant jenny and chasing off Carocho. We had so much fun, running after donkeys and imposing our authority and discipline! Great
! So much fun we had that day!
To make things worse, Magic developed a foot abscess, and he also became rather ill and weak, probably with the discomfort and pain. He is nearly 40 and despite being on bute, he kept lying down, as if giving up living, and his body temperature was dropping. We had to rug him (Thank You Maggie!
) and in one of the most critical nights Diogo was up with him, feeding him titbits every hour and helping him to stand whenever he got restless... it was freezing cold, there was no light in the shed and there were RATS crawling over DM's legs...
Anyway, update on all our adventures. Success!
Carocho and Tricana are now settled into the herd, and Magic pulled through and he is looking perky again. Tricana's fested wound is closing and she hasn't laminitis; she is still lame, but I think it's her knee joint.
Now we are still waiting for the vet to come, who will be leaving on holiday tomorrow...
But it's times like these that make us keep going and gain a strong sense of fulfillment and purpose in our lives as fellow humans, knowing that all the effort, all the sacrifice is well worth. At the end of the day, we may have rescued just a few old donkeys, but we are giving them these living creatures the remaining days of their existance the best times ever. Our facilities are far from the ideal, but are well cared for and much loved.
And, without the support of this board and the warming, encouraging words things would be even more difficult. There are times when we feel worn out and dishearted, but your caring, and encouraging words give us new strength.
Thank You!
