Another rescue… and another heartbreak…
A few days ago Lucy received a call from the local police in the early morning asking for her help because a poor donkey had been hit by a car and left stranded and wounded. The police had noticed him standing by the busy roadside in the Arab town of Qalansuwa and were concerned he could cause another road traffic accident.
They told Lucy they had tried to call a few different organisations for help but nobody had answered but fortunately they were then given Lucy's number.
That poor little donkey had already been there for a few hours according to somebody who had seen him at dawn. He had lost a fair amount of blood and was bleeding from his nose, he also had various cuts on his body as well as above his eye and he was dehydrated.
All Lucy wanted was to get him away from there back to the safety of her sanctuary, and although she’d already given him a painkiller, she wanted to examine and treat him.
Just as she was loading him to transport him home, a passerby watching her, told her that there was another injured donkey lying by the side of the road further along. Lucy went to look and found him in a heap on the hot, dusty ground while cars roared past... Lucy says: «I always ask myself in these situations how it’s possible that anybody could see him and not stop to at least comfort him and give him some water. I desperately wanted to give him a chance and take him back to our sanctuary even for a few days of love, carrots and peace - but he was suffering and must have been in so much pain. He was cut and his left front leg was hanging as it had broken and bone was protruding on his left back leg. It would not have been fair to put him through the immense stress of trying to get him into the horse trailer when he couldn’t even walk or hold himself up for more than a few seconds. It was deeply sad, his beautiful sad eyes said all that needed to be said.»
When he did struggle to get up, he couldn’t stay up and could not work out how to get back down again and so he literally collapsed. Lucy gave him some fresh cool water and some grass, and then the vet came to euthanise him... He went quickly and peacefully.
Back at the sanctuary, Lucy tended to the new little donkey, whom she called Alan. She bathed his wounds and applied healing ointment and the vet examined him and decided, because of the dehydration, to give him four bags of fluid intravenously and also put him on antibiotics for 5 days. Lucy was worried he could have some internal injuries but thank goodness, so far, he is alright and is healing and settling in well. The vet returned another day to do the necessary operation Lucy does for all her boy donkeys and also said that his right eye looked a bit inflamed so prescribed some special eye ointment and eye drops for him.
Lucy is only able to respond to these calls and help these donkeys with your kind and urgently needed support. Click here to find out how you can help.
Please click on the pictures for a larger image and more information