Although I have been away from the forum, I have a lot to tell you. In time I’ll update you all how life has been changing so fast.
However, this week we did two new rescues.
We were contacted by a local meat dealer, telling us that he had two donkeys, would we like to see them???
Of course. We went to his yard on Monday night.
We got there, and we saw two donkeys; Gaiato II (as we already have another Gaiato) and Pardal (means Sparrow). The price for both donkeys was high; 250€! Then we started the negotiation; striking a deal was paramount to their future welfare.
Gaiato was robust, although old and very head shy, afraid of people. He would probably be bought by some farmer to carry on leading a painful life.
But Pardal could barely walk, he was going for meat… the dealer said that his meat would be worth 60€. I felt gutted, to hear this in front of him, yet he was so gentle and he put his head in my arms…
DM seemed anguished; I knew the money was the issue… I asked him ‘
do you want me to decide’? ‘
yes’, he said.
‘
Right. 200€ for both donkeys, considering that one is just for meat, and he is no use to anybody, just a spare mouth to feed’. The dealer looked a bit gobsmacked, as I’m a little woman deciding men’s business. Cha! Good on me! I thought. I felt really proud at that moment.
We shook hands. The deal was done and the donkeys were safe.
On the way to car our thoughts were about money, which we didn’t have. ‘
Don’t worry, God is Great’, I told DM. He smiled and agreed.
The next evening I visited my elderly mum. She is a pensioner, and not known to me, she had been saving for months for my belated birthday present. On my way out, she presented me with exactly the same amount that we were going to pay for the donkeys.
This freaked me out. Coincidence or not, our earlier gesture was rewarded. God is Great that's all I could say.
Then, on Thursday morning the two boys were delivered. Here are the pictures. These two are our this year's Xmas donkeys… I guess…
The dealer’s van arrived
DM unloads Pardal and the dealer unloads Gaiato II
Pardal hooves. He is walking on tip toes; no doubt the result of years of neglected trimming…
And so they begin a new life. Our first resident donkeys of our new facilities (I’ll tell you all about it later!
)
The boys gladly tucked in their food
Pardal. Look how he stands on his toes…
Beautiful Pardal. He is so sweet and gentle. I promptly fell in love.
Gaiato II. He has the fantastic grey colour and zebra stripe markings.
So, God is Great. I'm so happy...
