Ma Curly
Rescued: July 10, 2013
Passed away: November 3, 2016

On summer’s morning, we received a call from Orihuela police about a property near Callosa de Segura, where it seems a man who’d been hoarding horses and donkeys had cut himself and died alone on the property.

His animals were left to starve.

They were all kept in absolutely horrendous conditions and upon further investigation, dogs were also found hidden out the back of the property in cages. The Spanish dog rescue charity Asoka got involved, and were absolutely brilliant, although we do believe some dogs died because they were sadly too far gone.

We were asked to take five donkeys – Ma Curly, as well as Little Lady, Geronimo, Ray and Dreamer (who sadly passed away shortly after his rescue).

They were all in terrible condition, especially Ma Curly, who came to us extremely malnourished and with a collapsed neck.

We named her Ma Curly for her curly hair, and the fact that she’d clearly been used as a breeding donkey.

Given what she survived, we are so, so happy that we could give Ma Curly three wonderful years out in our fields with her donkey friends.

But in early November 2016, we noticed Ma Curly beginning to struggle, with pain in one of her hoofs. Rod brought her in and our equine veterinarian Dorothea did x-rays, which confirmed that Ma Curly was suffering from laminitis.

Further blood tests confirmed our worst fears – Ma Curly was also suffering from Cushing’s disease and hyperlipaemia syndrome, and showing signs of kidney failure. With that cocktail of disease, it would have been impossible to help her.

We will never allow an animal to suffer needlessly, so we made the difficult decision to have Ma Curly put to sleep. After lots of last treats and hugs, she died peacefully on the morning of November 3.

Rest in peace, old girl. We will miss you.