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

Happy New Year from the Nerja Donkey Sanctuary and a huge thank you to everyone who attended our Xmas events. Also thank you the volunteers who helped us feed the animals and open to the visitors throughout the holiday period.

 

Winter coats on!

Our donkeys are always pleased to have visitors on Christmas Day and our helpers are glad of the company too, especially as December finally brought the colder weather to Nerja.   With temperatures plunging overnight we wrapped up our more vulnerable residents in some extra layers to keep them warm. Bolera, Rubia, and Silver were all glad to have their coats on as the temperatures dipped at night although of course this being Spain we had to get the coats off as the sun came up before they got too hot.   Rubia was particularly in need of some warmth as she has only been in the sanctuary for just over a month and it is taking her a while to put back on the weight she lost after being abandoned in a field in Vélez-Málaga.   She is recovering, although we are still unable to say if she will make a full recovery from the neglect she suffered.   Our vet came up with an unusual way of keeping the weight off her sore hooves by strapping polystyrene “soles” to the bottom of her hooves. It seems to have helped her and she is more comfortable.

In January we will be open to visitors everyday from 10am - 2pm and 4pm - 5pm. Once the evenings start getting lighter we will hope to extend the opening hours but please check the website here for the latest times.

Thanks to your support and donations our therapy program for children with disabilities is going from strength to strength with some real improvements seen in the regular attendees and some new kids joining in. 

We enjoyed watching ourselves on Spanish TV on the program Mira La Vida and we also spoke with the specialist Neurologist at the Maternity Hospital in Málaga who treats the children who attend our riding for disabled program.

 

She was very happy and said she had noted real progress in the children. She wanted to pass on her thanks to all involved with the scheme.   As we are being featured more and more in Spanish media it is of course important that we can communicate with journalists and visitors in Spanish with fluidity and dexterity. We would like to thank the language school Escuela de Idiomas Nerja for their kind offer to help us improve our Spanish by inviting us to attend some of their courses to fine tune our language skills. We'll let you know how we get on.   Donations are vital at this time of year or we will not be able to continue these therapy and educational sessions through the winter. Details of how to donate are on the website where you can also set up a regular donation using PayPal.   After a short break for Christmas our Kids Club will be up and running again. Petra, our eldest donkey, is a big fan of the kids club as she gets to have a bath. One of our kids club helpers has returned to Belgium so we would like to say a huge thank you to Annelise who whilst on a career break came to help us for two weeks and ended up staying for two months as she was so enamoured with the sanctuary.

Thank yous

Thank you to Jacqui and Adele for organising the Punta Lara Christmas fairs. From the entrance fee they raised €40 for the sanctuary and €48 for the Taller de Amistad charity whom we work with for our disabled riding program. Escuela de Idiomas Nerja for their continued support. Linda and Liz for their €400 donation and five adoptions. The Boatyard Bar. Thank you to everyone who donated prizes for our raffle - a full list of donors is available on the website. Last but by no means least Sven!

Thanks to all our visitors, supporters, helpers and volunteers who kept us going through what was an incredibly difficult year for the sanctuary. Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you all again soon.

About Us

Our core visitor hours for are 10am to 2pm and 5 to 6pm (please check the website for the latest opening hours).

We are open every day of the year 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.

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.

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ou 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.

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he Nerja Donkey Sanctuary is the founder member of the Asociación de Málaga de los Santuarios del Burro - a registered charity (7502 NIF G92826304) dedicated to defending the environment and the rescue and care of equines.

Donkey Sanctuary Archives

Read previous Donkey Sanctuary News pages by clicking on the pictures

January 2009	February 2009	March 2009	April 2009
May 2009	June 2009	July 2009	August 2009
September 2009	October 2009	November 2009	December 2009