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Home > News and events > Press releases

Sanctuary salutes Kenyan business woman

Posted on 12 March 2010.

With International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day taking place within the same week, the Sidmouth-based Donkey Sanctuary is acknowledging the work of a Kenyan business woman in improving welfare conditions for her donkey and her family.

The overseas harness development team of The Donkey Sanctuary in Devon recently met an inspirational young woman who has found that hard work and good donkey care can bring great rewards.

Ruth is a mother of three who has been responsible for supporting her family since her husband became unable to work. With limited opportunities for work in her home town of Kiserian, near Nairobi, Ruth decided to set up a business transporting water throughout the local area. Water is one of the heaviest and most difficult of cargos for an animal to transport and Ruth soon noticed that her donkey had developed sore wounds where the locally made harness was causing serious irritations.

As a responsible donkey owner, Ruth sought help from the Sanctuary’s mobile team who introduced her to a new style of rope harness that allowed the wounds to heal and ensured that no more wounds developed.

She explained to Donkey Sanctuary harness development officer Chris Garrett: “We have local vets, and I would be happy to pay for their services, but they don’t really know very much about donkeys, they need training. Until I found The Donkey Sanctuary there was no one to help us, we could see that our donkeys were suffering but did not know how to change the situation. Now I know that there is someone who takes me seriously and will do their best to help.”

With her delivery business running well, Ruth decided to help other donkey owners and, after attending a Sanctuary-run harness making course, set up an additional business making donkey-friendly harnesses for local working donkeys and is also volunteering her own time to spread the message about the importance of good donkey care.

Ruth says: “My donkey works so hard to help me look after my family and I want to do right by him and keep him strong and healthy.”

Ruth is one of many women who work with The Donkey Sanctuary’s overseas teams to balance the demands of their working environments with donkey welfare. For more information about the overseas work of The Donkey Sanctuary, visit www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk

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Key facts

  • The Donkey Sanctuary was founded in 1969 by Dr Elisabeth Svendsen. Sadly, she passed away in 2011 but her memory lives on in our work, as does her eternal motto that, in everything we do, donkeys will always come first, second and third.
  • The Donkey Sanctuary’s vision is a world where donkeys live free from suffering and their contribution to humanity is fully valued.
  • There is estimated to be 50 million donkeys in the world. By 2018 we aim to double our reach to two million donkeys in 40 countries.
  • Our aims include: never to turn away from donkey and mules in need and to provide lifelong care for them in the UK and Ireland; to reduce the suffering of domestic and working donkeys due to neglect, ill-treatment, illness, ignorance and injury; and to improve the lives of both donkeys and people through positive human donkey interactions.
  • We currently work in 34 countries worldwide through major projects and collaborations. These projects mean we were in reach of 1.6million donkeys, and we directly treated almost a quarter of a million donkeys and mules in 2015.
  • Since commencement of the charity in 1969 over 18,800 donkeys and mules have been provided with a sanctuary for life. 6,600 donkeys and mules are currently in our care at our sanctuaries, holding bases and through our Rehoming Scheme in the UK, Ireland and Europe. This includes the 960 donkeys and mules we rescued in 2015.
  • We seek to analyse, understand and respond to emerging donkey welfare problems and to advocate on behalf of donkeys and bring their welfare issues to the forefront - at local, national and international levels.
  • In our efforts to reach the world’s population of donkeys and mules, we work hard to impart our knowledge on the care and welfare of donkeys through training and education programmes.
  • The Donkey Sanctuary is a registered charity and we rely entirely on donations and legacy gifts to fulfil our worldwide work with donkeys and mules. You can help the Sanctuary today by donating, fundraising, volunteering, adopting and rehoming.
  • Our Sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon, is our international headquarters and is open to the public 365 days a year.

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