We rescued Dotty the mule in June 2018 after her owner had abandoned her following the annual Appleby Horse Fair. Find out how she's getting on under our care.
Our team attending the fair had initially spotted Dotty being driven in a harness. As a small, dun-coloured mule, she stood out among the hundreds of horses.
After the fair had finished, our team had started heading back to Devon when Dotty was spotted loose nearby with no sign of the owner.
Dotty was taken to nearby Appleby Police Station's safety, and enquiries began to locate an owner and make arrangements for her ongoing care.
The RSPCA left 'stray notices' at the scene, giving the owner 14 days to come forward. Once these had expired, Dotty was legally signed over into our care.
We took her to our Derbyshire sanctuary, where she still lives today.
After settling in, Dotty was still wary of strangers and showed obvious signs of stress and anxiety when anyone tried to groom her back end or pick up her back feet. Our Derbyshire team has been working on a behavioural training programme to help her get used to being around people.
She has created a very close bond with her grooms on the farm and remains a loved and treasured member of the Derbyshire sanctuary's resident herd.
Can you help?
With you by our side we can continue to offer Mules like Dotty a second lease of life
