News from the Nerja Donkey Sanctuary

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

The Nerja Donkey Sanctuary celebrated its sixth year with a first, a beautiful baby donkey born in the sanctuary on July 3.

As an expectant nation watched the Spanish football team play Paraguay in the World Cup our expectant mother Chica decided the time was right to give birth to a beautiful foal late that Saturday evening.

We named him David in honour of David Villa who scored Spain’s goal at around the same time that he was born.

We called our vet to see if he would come and check the baby over and got the answer we were expecting: “Spain are playing you’ll be fine!” Thankfully the birth went smoothly and without complications, our team assisting where necessary.

The sanctuary has seen numerous births in its six years in Nerja but this was the first foal to be born in the sanctuary. Just recently one of our pigs had two piglets so come and visit our babies before they grow up, the sanctuary is open to visitors from 10- 2pm and 5 to 8pm throughout August.

Chica had been penned into a specially baby-proofed pen but as soon as David was up and walking, just 15 minutes after birth, plans were made to enlarge their pen and give them as much room to move about as possible.

Proud mum Chica with son David

Within a few days David was running circles around his mother in the now enlarged pen so we moved them into the back field where they spent the afternoon running and rolling in the dust, burning off energy. Chica is less than three years old so she has plenty of energy herself, you can see videos of mum and baby playing on our website here.

Our current baby donkeys were not amused at being made to look older and, whisper it, not as cute as the newborn they staged a sit down protest (left) and refused to cooperate.
We always keep some baby donkeys in the sanctuary as they play an important role in our education programs and are also used as part of our disabled riding and therapy sessions which we provide free to local children.
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After last month’s three arrivals, David’s birth and with a new mule on the way, we are starting to run out of space so we are hoping to home some of the animals as soon as possible. We are looking for foster homes for the donkeys and we would love to find a nice home for Billy, our goat, we also desperately need to expand the sanctuary but have been told the fencing alone will cost €3,500.

Please help us by visiting the sanctuary, donating online or even just spreading the word to your friends and family.

Thank yous

Hannah, Daniel and Shane for their hard work and expertise. Lesley and Paul Denis from Cardiff for their continued support. Thanks to our Welsh contingent and a big thank you to the kids and teachers at Knightswood Primary School in Glasgow whose Eco Committee raised £150 over three weeks selling books outside the school. They have sponsored three donkeys: Farry, Pinky and Perky.

You can do the same in the sanctuary: an adoption costs €20 and helps us to continue our vital work rescuing and caring for abandoned equines.

About Us

Our core visitor hours fare 10am to 2pm and 5 to 6pm but In July and August we have extended evening hours 5-8pm. . We are open every day and admission is free. Great fun for kids. Find us on the Soltalk map in square E2. We are on the western edge of town a few minutes walk from the Supersol supermarket next to the Rio Chillar river and its new promenade.

You can bring carrots and feed the donkeys by hand, please remember to break up any larger carrots. Like a city farm we have a variety of other animals that children can meet and learn about including pigs, goats and chickens. If you haven’t been in recently we have improved and expanded the visitor area so come and see us again as you won't recognise the place. Volunteers always needed.

Volunteers are always welcome so if you’d like to help out why not pop in to the sanctuary or give us a call. Not all of the jobs are messy or hands on with the animals as we always need people to meet and greet visitors and show people around.

You can find out more about us, adopt a donkey or donate by card or PayPal at our website or email us.

For information about volunteering, school visits or opening hours call Rory on (+34) 664 558 133.

For Rescues call (+34) 618 46 7575.

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.

Postal address: Katherine Horne, Nerja Donkey Sanctuary, Apartado de Correos 414, Nerja, 29780, Malaga, Spain.

The Nerja Donkey Sanctuary is a registered Spanish not for profit charity number 7502.

Donkey Sanctuary Archives

Read previous Donkey Sanctuary News pages by clicking on the pictures


January 2010	February 2010	March 2010	April 2010

May 2010	June 2010	July 2010
2009 articles

January 2009	February 2009	March 2009	April 2009

May 2009	June 2009	July 2009	August 2009

September 2009	October 2009	November 2009	December 2009