Walter

Please be aware that the last order date for receiving adoption packs in time for Christmas has now passed. However, if you wish to gift an adoption this Christmas, you can still do so by downloading a printable adoption certificate from your confirmation email and we will aim to get the adoption pack to you or your recipient as soon as possible. Please be aware that we use the Royal Mail service, and delivery timescales are subject to any delays that they may be experiencing.

We always try to get your beautiful adoption pack or renewal pack delivered in the UK within 14 days. Deliveries to overseas addresses may take longer. Please be aware that we use the Royal Mail service, and delivery timescales are subject to any delays that they may be experiencing. In the meantime, you can download your printable adoption certificate from your confirmation email.

Yes, if your adoption donkey lives at our Sidmouth sanctuary you can visit. The sanctuary is open to the public seven days a week from 9am – 4pm. 

If you adopt one of our Belfast donkeys you will be able to visit them again soon when our Belfast centre reopens. Please keep an eye on our ‘Belfast - Visit Us’ page on the website for re-opening updates. 

Please note that we do not bring adoption donkey over to adopters individually as we respect their freedom of choice to move around their paddocks. If your adoption donkey is not in view, often they will appear as they move within their environment if you wait patiently. We thank you for your understanding that, with animals who have freedom of choice, not every donkey will be in view all the time.  

Your adoption pack will contain two beautiful portraits of your brand new friend, four postcards, a certificate and a membership card.

If you choose to take the adoption pack away with you on the day, it will be exactly the same as those ordered online, however we will be unable to personalise your certificate. If this is an issue, our shops can arrange for your personalised pack to be sent through the post

It costs just £3 a month or £36 for the year to adopt a donkey. The average cost of keeping a donkey is now a staggering £2,000 a year. Your money will be used to help with feed, bedding and medical bills among the many other costs of providing a safe home for our donkeys.

If you adopted online, you should have received an email confirming payment. Do get in touch if you have any issues – you can complete our online contact form or call our team on 01395 573133 between 8:30am and 4:30pm on weekdays.

Due to the nature of our adoption scheme, it’s important to allow multiple people to adopt each donkey. The scheme is a vital way of raising funds to support the donkeys in our care, as well as our work and projects worldwide. Restricting adoptions to one adopter per donkey would vastly affect the amount of money we could raise through the scheme, and would also weaken the experience of those who have chosen to adopt.

Yes. We welcome adopters from all over the world to our wonderful adoption family. If you adopt, your adoption pack will be sent directly to your address, but please be aware that delivery may take longer than our standard 14 days, and some EU countries may charge an additional import tax.

Yes. If adopting from a foreign bank account, the equivalent adoption fee will be taken at current exchange rates. However, please note that you can only adopt by Direct Debit from a UK bank account.

Yes. You will have the option to buy as a gift when you adopt . Just follow the instructions once you add your donkey to the basket, and we’ll make sure you receive the adoption pack ready to wrap. All future correspondence will then be sent to the adopter’s address.

There are eight webcams available to watch across our main sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon. You might be able to spot Drizzle and Tornado in Shelter 1, Cocoa and Walter in Shelter 2, Ashley, Zena and Cleo in Shelter 4, Percy in Shelter 6 , Tat and Theo in Main Barn and Peanut and Maverick on the miniature webcam.