News from the Nerja Donkey Sanctuary

Sanctuary closure looms : please
help

We have no doubt that 2009 is going to be a desperate year, but during the last few months of the year, we have been incredibly lucky in having help from Melanie Radford and her Bachelor of Science business studies team at the University of Leeds, who provided a series of working initiatives into what we should be doing, and worked to help us establish a UK Charitable Trust.

But, we were doubly and incredibly lucky in also having input from MA Business school graduates from both Yale and Stanford Universities in America, on secondment to the University of Granada, looking at our work, with a view to making recommendations on value for money, the way forward, and to incorporate their results in their Doctor of Philosophy

Click on the donkey above to visit the website of the Nerja Donkey Sanctuary

degrees.

This influx of help from the world of academia has really been well worth while and our thanks to them all, and we would suggest to other organisations and charities, that they also should ask independent researchers to visit them and report on their work, and report on it openly for the public to ascertain for themselves, the question of value for money in what they provide, a service after all, based on public donations, but it is what they suggest that is really interesting,

Their collective visits were not all smiles and roses, especially when you have not one, but two lots of business studies graduates, from the top universities of America, giving you an in depth examination, going over your books and reports for the last five years income and expenditure.

It is an interesting experience, to put it mildly. As an additional twist, these two universities are competitors, and here was us, piggie (or donkey?) in the middle of it all, and each went about checking each others research and facts.

6 out of
5 stars

Talk about checking you over, this lot went to town but, at the end, Stamford students gave us a 5 out of 5 star rating for “economical cost effectiveness and value for money” but Yale students gave us a 6 star rating out of five and, when asked why, they said the extra star was for “providing a service, above and beyond what was demanded, costed for, expected, and at minimal cost for the work involved “ but the extra star, was also because we did it with “a laugh and a smile, day and night, and at minimal, unbelievable, value for money”.

Now, when you have not one or two, but a proverbial crowd of Doctor of Philosophy students giving you a health check for their thesis, the old proverb of you can kid some of the people some of the time, came to the fore, and this lot took no prisoners, so we had nowhere to hide. When they produced their recommendations, we listened very seriously to what they said.

So a big - no very big - thanks to them for helping us see the wood from the trees. So what has this got to do with working with donkeys?

Well, day and night, for free, we go out and rescue and help injured, ill, abandoned animals, so it is easy to sometimes lose the plot or get so involved, you forget who or what you are doing, so when you get a very focussed group turning you over, you have to listen to what they say. Both American University graduate students were adamant that far from cutting our services “we need to hold our nerve and expand to meet the clear need for the rescue and care of donkeys, mules and horses” (a similar request to that from the Junta de Andalucia) and they had a lot to say about a donkey sanctuary having dogs and cats, as they argued that there were many cat and dog charities around but a shortfall on donkey rescue centres, a fair enough point.

How to save €250,000

Of course, the academic minds work differently from us mere mortals, especially those academics who work in accounts and business studies and they love nothing better than their “cost comparative” and “value for money” charts.

But when they are business graduates from highly respected universities, you listen to them very carefully, especially when they talk about over a quarter of a million euro difference in cost savings, but here was what they verified as our cost base.

Just under €2 a day

That’s what they reported is all it costs to feed 20-year-old Paloma, (pictured left) sitting down patiently waiting for lunch, or an elderly or terminally ill 500 kilo donkey (plus the odd few pigs, goats sheep, chickens, turkey and other odds and ends), and we feel that is great value for money.

But even with these low costs, we are in danger of closure as the money has just run out, so please think about sponsoring lunch, or breakfast, for one of our rescued donkeys, for whom Nerja is their home. We are just the same as all families who have to be careful with the food budget and housing costs, trying to ensure we combine all the right nutritional ingredients for breakfast, lunch and the evening meal, with value for the ever dwindling budget, so we know exactly what it costs to feed and house our rather larger family.

As our visitors all know, its not just donkeys, mules and horses we love and care for but we continue to have these other pesky little blighters called dogs, pups, cats and kittens just dumped on us despite the fact that that we are a donkey sanctuary not a dog and cat one, but we do our best, and we well remember the early days when one animal society said if we took them in for them on a temporary basis, they would pay for them.

That dream never materialised but in case they ever get round to it, it costs us 25 cents each a day to feed, house and medicate them, (independently verified costs) which we think is not bad going, especially as we managed to find new homes for over 300 of them last year (Yale statistics from our records).

But please get your cheque book out as we are really, really, in danger of closing due to lack of money.

And, by the way, two full days a week volunteer Maurice, would like his hat back and we would like our donkey sanctuary back!

What else do we do?

Our free 24/7 rescue service cost a total of €21,442 last year (verified costs) and that covered 1,000 + rescue calls and over 3,000 telephone calls, but has shown a marked increase in horses running loose, with some 60 per cent of our calls being for horses (628) and, regretfully, nearly half of all our calls, some 476 calls in total, were just for horses wandering loose, with by far the majority (395) not abandoned, ill or neglected, but were just horses wandering loose due to lack of care by their owners, a most unusual but apparently growing trend.

Rescue turn outs for donkeys and mules were the minority last year with almost 20 per cent of calls each for donkeys (203) and mules (163), a marked change. We managed to substantially cut cost by using scooters for calls just for animals wandering loose and, although we had to discontinue our service in November due to lack of funds, the service has again re started, but on a reduced basis.

We are however, seeking commercial sponsors for this work, including needing a 4x4 vehicle to pull our rescue trailer, without which, our ability to move animals to safety or to new homes, is restricted.

Our outreach project

They commented on our decision to restrict our work on this project and pointed out that it cost just a total of €12,663 for the year (verified costs), the majority of which was €7,912 for medicines and vets’ fees as we inoculate and worm them, and €3,405 for feed.

Regretfully, this project was suspended in October due to lack of funds, but they all pointed out that it was a false economy to leave animals in minor need to develop more serious problems requiring them to have more expensive care later, to save their lives. We undertook over 800 outreach visits last year where we took emergency aid to local animals, and start work at 3am each day to visit animals in and around Nerja to ensure their welfare, and to medicate and feed them in emergencies, or when we are trying to find them new homes.

One of the greatest successes of the project has been to ensure the barbaric local practice of tying animals feet with wire in fields has ended and we have to ensure it is never re started. The students said we had to reassess and re start this project, which we have already done.

Outsourcing dogs and cats

The students researched the cost of commercial kennels and, using a comparative financial model, (this is not a criticism in any way or of any organization) argued that if our facilities for dogs and cats had been sponsored by organizations or charities that cared for dogs and cats, instead of using commercial kennels, at a gross cost of €360,000, then there were possible savings of just over a quarter of a million euros (€266,000) that could have been achieved over the last five years.

To rub salt into the wounds, they pointed out that amount was enough to pay the Nerja Sanctuary running costs** (including cats and dogs) for the next seven plus years at current prices, and without the need for any further donations or fund raising.

So there you have it, the academic input has all been very worth while as it helps us to see the wood from the trees, but owing to space limits, we can't add much more, but perhaps will be able to return to this in the future. Meanwhile, as there is no time to lose, we are starting straight away with our “Buy a donkey lunch” initiative and are going to be calling on local businesses to see if they will become “Donkey Sanctuary Sponsors” as well as starting, in the words of the academics, not fund raising events but “survival events”, called that, for the simple reason that if we can't raise €1,000 a week, then we close, simple as that.

So, please remember, if you a looking for a shop, bar or restaurant and have a choice, always try to chose one with our new “Donkey Sanctuary Sponsor” signs, as your custom there will help us survive.

Lastly, for transparency, stressed by all graduate student groups, all other (local) charities should adopt similar practices of posting expenditure and income statements, in a similar, transparent and simple way, for the benefit of the donating public.

Our total income, for the year was €76,610, with expenditure, for all our projects, of €81,850, with an accumulated deficit at December 31, 2008, of €62,119, comprising a (members guaranteed) bank loan and loans from members to fund the ongoing deficit. The expenditure does not reflect the savings to the charity of goods and services provided at their own cost by members, volunteers and supporters.

How you can help

Our opening times are 10 am to 4 pm weekdays and 10 am to 1 pm at weekends. We are open every day of the year and admission is free. If you can’t visit us this time then you can find out more about us, or even adopt a donkey or other animal or donate by debit or credit card or PAYPAL via our website at here or here. Email here, here or here.

Information on volunteering or opening hours, call Kate on (+34) 664 558 135 or Rory on (+34) 664 558 133.

For rescues, call (+34) 618 46 7575 and for fund raising or helping at the car boot stall, call Irene on (+34) 690 047 350.

You can donate in sterling or euros with cheques payable to Nerja Donkey Sanctuary, Apartado de Correos 414, Nerja, 29780, Malaga, Spain.

Bank transfers to Banco Popular Nerja No: 0075- 1458-25 060 00108-86.

IBAN ES37007514582506000010886

BIC POPUESMM

The Nerja Donkey Sanctuary is the founder member of Asociación de Malaga de los Santuarios del Burro - a registered charity dedicated to defending the environment and the rescue and care of animals, registered number 7502 and NIF G92826304.

JIM HORNE

Donkey Sanctuary Archives

Read previous Donkey Sanctuary News pages by clicking on the pictures


January 2009