Dora and Mickey bring friendship to their Guardian family

Dora, aged four, and three-year-old Mickey were both in our care before joining our rehoming scheme.

Mickey’s mum was taken into our care as part of a welfare case. She was in foal with Mickey when she was rescued and he was born at the sanctuary in Buxton, Derbyshire.

Dora was relinquished into our care when she was six months old.

Now, the pair are thriving in their new home with Guardians Claire and Jez. They share a purpose-built paddock at the bottom of their family home in Lincolnshire.

Claire, who comes from an equine background, has always loved donkeys for their inquisitive and intelligent personalities and wanted donkeys of her own. She says: “We didn’t want to purchase them, we wanted to rehome. I was sceptical at first, but my experience with The Donkey Sanctuary has given me trust in adopting animals in the UK.

“The Guardian process was very straightforward. I completed the form online and got a call from the sanctuary to check I wanted to go ahead with the process.

“Julie, my Donkey Welfare Advisor, came out to visit me and gave us lots of information and told us what we would have to do to ensure everything was suitable for the donkeys. She was fantastic and so sensible through the whole process.

“We also did a couple of training courses and were advised on what we would need for the paddock, including shelter and fencing. The Welfare team signed all of this off when it was finished and Dora and Mickey came to live with us in May 2024.”

A special bond

Dora and Mickey have quickly settled into their new home. They’ve formed a strong friendship with Claire’s springer spaniel over their paddock fence. They have also developed a special bond with her niece Jasmine. Claire adds: “Jasmine has autism and sensory processing disorder, she has just started secondary school.

“Jasmine finds school and social interaction quite challenging. But spending time with the donkeys doing things like grooming allows her a bit of downtime and space from the challenges she has and has really helped her. She has really bonded with both of them.

“It’s also taught her about being healthy and looking after herself. Jasmine loves getting involved in all aspects of caring for Mickey and Dora.

“She even likes things like poo picking, as she now understands why it’s important; or why they can’t have lots of apples and carrots. It puts a different perspective on being healthy, learning and understanding how to look after something.”

Dora and Mickey have also become somewhat local celebrities in Claire’s village. She adds: “At the bottom of their paddock there’s a public footpath and people love to stop to talk to them.

“Staff from the GP surgery come out on their lunch break to see them, we’ve also had the local school come and see them.

“They love seeing people and are very inquisitive. They love coming in close for a cuddle, Mickey especially loves to lean his head on your shoulder for a cuddle and will let you stroke his nose.”

The pair are very closely bonded and Mickey is the more self-assured of the two. To help increase their confidence Claire has started to walk them around the local village, getting them used to things like drains and cars.

When they’re not getting attention from people, they love to chase each other around the paddock and play with their many enrichment toys, including logs, footballs and hula hoops – there’s plenty to keep them busy!

Speaking about the future for Dora and Mickey, Claire says: “We want to make sure they continue to feel settled through winter months and continue to build their confidence, this is the most important thing.”

Donkey Guardians are essential to us, providing safe loving homes for hundreds of donkeys. Our rehoming scheme helps to free up vital space in our sanctuaries for donkeys who require more specialist care.