A foal who narrowly avoided a bleak, miserable start to life is already stealing hearts at our Ireland sanctuary.
Evie was born on St Stephen’s Day (Boxing Day in the UK) after her mother Solus and two-month-old sister Mistletoe were rescued by our Ireland team in December 2021.
Solus and Mistletoe were part of a group of six donkeys locked in a dark shed, with no food or water, in County Mayo.
Years of neglect had seen all their hooves become severely overgrown, and they were all very weak.
All of Solus’ bodily efforts had gone into producing milk, so her grooms had to pay special attention to her diet.
Thankfully, with plenty of love and patience, Solus’ condition began to improve and she gave birth to Evie on St Stephen’s Day.
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Despite needing extra veterinary care in the first few weeks of her life, including blood transfusions to build up her antibodies, both Evie and Solus are now fit and well.
This gorgeous foal has already captured the hearts of our team with her floppy ears and long legs.
We are delighted by the arrival of Evie, but it is important to remember that irresponsible breeding is one of the leading causes of welfare issues for donkeys across Ireland.
Without the care and support of our Ireland team, Evie's outcome would have been very different. Unfortunately, many donkeys are still born in difficult circumstances, and welfare problems are exacerbated during the cold winter months.
Part of The Donkey Sanctuary Ireland’s mission is to educate donkey keepers on proper donkey welfare to prevent suffering, as well as encouraging the castration of stallions and the implementation of the right infrastructure and care regime to keep donkeys healthy and happy.
The team offers these services to donkey owners across the Republic and Northern Ireland, but this is only possible because of the generosity of our supporters.
Original story from The Donkey Sanctuary Ireland: Meet Evie our newest arrival born on St Stephen's Day
