New home for Isla and Isabelle

A pair of donkeys who were rescued from squalor in Worcestershire are now being cared for by students and staff at a college in the West Midlands.

Isabelle and Isla were involved a multi-agency rescue operation in 2022, which saw them and five other donkeys removed from a hazard-strewn parcel of land, close to Tenbury Wells.

The donkeys lived on land surrounding a static home, yet their only shelter came from a cramped tin shed.

Their grazing was sparse, and they had to navigate around broken barbed wire fencing, junk, scrap metal and old vehicles each day.

In addition to their situation, seven-year-old Isla and Isabelle, eight, were both heavily pregnant and had overgrown hooves, lice-infested coats and looked uncomfortable on their feet.

More than two years’ on, Isla and Isabelle’s lives have drastically changed.

After giving birth to their foals – Harry to Isla and Henry to Isabelle – and making a full recovery from their health concerns, the pair now spend their days with animal welfare and veterinary nursing students at Sollihull College and University Centre.

Isla and Isabelle have taken the place of donkeys Archie and Eeyore, who spent more than a decade at the college’s Blossomfield Campus.

Claire Powell, the college’s Head of School for Animal Management and Veterinary Nursing, says: “College favourites Archie and Eeyore had been on-site interacting with students for more than 15 years until Eeyore sadly passed away last year.  

“As most donkeys are happiest in pairs and can get severely depressed if they are left alone, we asked The Donkey Sanctuary for help in finding Archie a new home in Stoke-on-Trent.”

Archie now spends his days in the company of his long-eared friend, Hector. As part of the process, the college sought to replace Archie with two new donkeys, and Isla and Isabelle were the perfect match.

The pair have been thriving since their arrival at the college, and look forward to a bright future under the care and company of the school’s staff and students.

Isla and Isabelle are the second pair of donkeys from the group in Worcestershire to be rehomed. Teddy and Charles, who were also rescued on the same day, are thriving in a loving Guardian home in the south of England.