The Donegal Donkey Sanctuary has made an appeal after a “shocking” incident where a donkey was left on a busy roadside near Raphoe this week.
The sanctuary took to social media to appeal for donations to aid in the care of their newest resident, a young male donkey called Wilbur.
According to the sanctuary, they received an urgent call on Thursday evening to help and rescue the young donkey, who the sanctuary believed had been intentionally dumped by the side of a busy stretch of road by his owners.
Even more shockingly, Wilbur had been abandoned just three miles from the Donkey Sanctuary itself.
“An urgent phone call to the sanctuary yesterday evening resulted in the late night rescue of this beautiful boy,” the Donegal Donkey Sanctuary said.
“A motorist almost collided with poor Wilbur on a very dangerous stretch of road outside our local town of Raphoe. This section of road is notorious for bends and blind corners and has a very sharp drop down into a valley.”
“It is a miracle that he was not hit which could have resulted in human fatality as well. Just shocking and no more than 3 miles from the sanctuary itself.”
“Just shocking & so close to the sanctuary. We believe that he was dumped off to fend for himself. Why?”
While Wilbur is in decent physical shape, the sanctuary says that he will need treatment for his hooves which are causing him discomfort, as well as castration and microchipping as he is a stallion.
The sanctuary has asked the public for donations to go towards his care.
They have also issued their thanks to the several members of the public that helped rescue Wilbur from his awful situation.
“A special mention to the gentleman who made the phone call to alert us to the situation, also the gentleman who got him off the road to safety until we arrived, (as well as) one of the passing motorists who offered a dog lead as an emergency measure to help lead a very frightened animal out of the traffic confusion.”
