The Donkey Sanctuary: A Fursday First

Happy Fursday, Missians!

Thanks for joining us for another edition of Missy's Blog--The official blog of The Missy Show.  As promised, because yesterday was National Mule Day, I wanted to let today's post introduce you guys to a sanctuary that helps donkeys and mules.  It's called The Donkey Sanctuary.  This sanctuary does a lot of great work assisting donkeys and mules in need.  As some of you guys may know, next to cats, donkeys are my favorite animals, (and as we learned in one of our past blog posts, a mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse)--so you could say mules are alright by me too!

I'm going to give you the highlights of the services provided to donkeys and mules by the Donkey Sanctuary, as listed on their site; but please click the link, because there's way more info on there--including how you can help.  Here's the link:

https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/

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 programs.
• 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.

Please make sure you check out their site.  Even if you can't help, it's just heart-warming to read about their commitment to these animals, and the myriad of ways they help them.  Be sure to join us tomorrow for our Black Cat edition of Missy's Blog, and to read about our November/December, "Joy of Giving" Campaign.

Until tomorrow,

This is your host J,
signing off.................................................