Donkeys might not be everyone’s first choice of animal but Dr Elisabeth Svendsen, the founder of the Donkey Sanctuary, loved them.

In 1969, she bought a donkey called Naughty Face. She initially began breeding donkeys, but after seeing donkeys that weren’t being cared for, turned her attention to rescuing them. Their main site is in Sidmouth at Slade Farm, where they currently have 217 donkeys in their care.

They have a number of sites based in  the UK, Ireland and across Europe. Currently there are approximately 7000 donkeys in their care over these sites. There are also what they call Guardian Homes, where people with sufficient land can take care of donkeys for as long as they are able to before going back into the farm’s care if necessary.

Dean, one of the workers at the Donkey Sanctuary in Slade Farm, talks to the public about donkeys and the sanctuary’s history. I asked him when the sanctuary opened: “The sanctuary started in 1969, and then they bought this farm in 1974; it became a charity in ’73. ”

He also explained how the sanctuary is funded: “Donations, legacies. About 75% is legacies, so that’s money that’s been left in wills, the rest of it is people visiting and spending money.”

When asked what the most rewarding aspect of his role was, Dean simply replied: “Being with the donkeys… it’s nice to be able to talk to people as well, so I get the best of both really. I can be with the donkeys and also talk to visitors.”

So how has the pandemic affected the sanctuary? Dean says, “It closed us down, but fortunately people still spent money by our online order service, and people were still adopting donkeys so it still worked, though our income dropped quite a bit. But once we reopened, it was fine. We’ve made up that deficit that we had; and the donkeys missed everyone as well here, so when we opened again they all loved having people around. ”

To find out more about this amazing charity and its global work visit The Donkey Sanctuary.