Friday, 19 January 2007

Donkey sanctuary welcomes 12,000th guest

Yesterday saw the arrival at the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary in East Devon of Silver, a white donkey who had been carrying children along the seafront at Skegness for the last several years. No cruelty here I'm pleased to say - just the owner wanting her to have a happy and contented retirement.

Silver is the 12,000th donkey to come to the sanctuary. Could the sanctuary's founder Dr Elizabeth Svendsen who started it way back in 1969 have ever envisaged that she would have given a home to so many donkeys over the years? Although Sidmouth is the home of the charity it now has a total of 10 farms spread over the UK and Ireland. Additionally it has major projects ongoing in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico, India, Spain and Egypt. I am always in awe of people like Dr Svendsen who have such drive and determination. In an age when "celebrities" get honours for no great reason it is good to know that Elizabeth has an MBE to her name, richly deserved I would say.

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