Ian the Donkey: from slavery to sanctuary
Ian is one of Lucy’s 39 rescued donkeys. He is a small boy who was in a very sad state when Lucy first saw him pulling a cart carrying three boys, uphill on a dangerous and busy road on the Israeli/Palestinian border.
The boys were repeatedly beating the donkey with a heavy metal pole to make him go faster when he was clearly trying to force one leg in front of the other as it was, desperately trying to pull a weight way beyond his capacity, so Lucy asked them to pull over and stop.
He was bleeding in several places particularly in the place where he was continuously beaten. Lucy and her small team treated his wounds by the roadside and were sickened to see he had a bleeding hole where the metal pole kept hitting him. They also saw that somebody had cut off the tips of his little ears. That is tragically one of myths that some cultures believe in - that to cut the ears off male donkeys will make them more calm. It’s something Lucy has seen so many times.
Lucy’s team had a talk with the boys in the hope that they could somehow get them to understand why what they were doing was so wrong. The boys were from the West Bank and were inside the Israeli border at the time, not entirely legally but they told Lucy that they would bring the little donkey to Lucy’s outreach clinic in the Palestinian city of Qalqilya a few days later. They never came.
So Lucy’s team did all they could to trace the boys and their donkey because Lucy desperately wanted to help but it seemed they wanted to avoid her. However, fortunately for the little donkey, as things transpired, it meant he was able to be rescued by Lucy’s team from the abuse he was suffering and taken safely to the sanctuary.
Ian likes his herd but is also happy with his own company. He is sometimes prone to being a bit boisterous and can be seen occasionally joining in a game with some of the other boys. As for humans, he really doesn’t have much time for them unless they have a carrot in their hand, then it’s worth chancing it. Who can blame him?
Will you consider making a donation today? Every single donation will help us to support Lucy, so she can keep the sanctuary open and continue to help the donkeys who so desperately need her.
(donations will be charged in GBP, but you can use www.xe.com to convert into your own currency)
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We also have a small Online Shop which lovely donkey themed merchandise and gifts - all proceeds go to support Lucy’s work in Israel.
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