Romeo
Rescued: July 9, 2009

Romeo was the first donkey we ever rescued. We had received a call from Seprona, Spain’s animal welfare arm, to help seize a donkey from a country holiday home. We had no idea what we’d find, but we nonetheless rushed to Mutxamel, north of Alicante.

There we found poor Romeo kept in a ditch that he couldn’t even see out of. He had no shelter and was given no food or water during the week – his owners would only return to look after him on the weekends.

Neighbours complained and Seprona acted quickly. Armed with a court order, they seized Romeo and handed him over to us.

He was very malnourished and in quite a bad way when we brought him back. Covered in ticks and mites and with scabs and sores on his legs, Romeo also showed signs of depression, almost certainly from loneliness. Being pack animals, donkeys shouldn’t kept alone.

Luckily, Romeo was less than a year old when rescued, so he has bounced back very well.

In the early days, we kept him with our miniature ponies, so he was probably a bit confused as to what he really was. But as we began rescuing more and more donkeys, Romeo quickly caught on and was overjoyed to be with his own kind.

Romeo is now a very happy little guy, a real pleasure to have in our field.