Discover the story of The Donkey Sanctuary
1960s: The Journey begins
1969
Dr Svendsen buys a donkey called Naughty Face for £45 while she was running the Salston Hotel in Ottery St Mary, Devon. Not long after, Dr Svendsen purchases a best friend for Naughty Face: Angelina.
1970s
1970s: The story spreads
1970
Dr Svendsen attends the donkey market in Exeter. Appalled by the state of the donkeys there, she starts by buying those in the worst condition - and begins a future dedicated to saving donkeys in distress.
1973
On 26 March 1973 The Donkey Sanctuary is registered as a charity. Collection boxes are set out at the Salston Hotel, and Dr Svendsen writes The Donkey Sanctuary’s first leaflet by typewriter, sending it to everyone that had donated. In the same year, the Rehoming scheme begins, enabling thousands of donkeys to find new homes over the years.
1974
Dr Svendsen receives a phone call that will change the course of history for donkeys and mules. She is informed that Miss Violet Philpin, founder of an animal charity in Reading, has passed away - leaving Dr Svendsen a legacy of 204 donkeys.
1975
Dr Svendsen unites children with additional needs with donkeys for the first time -an idea that would go on to help thousands of children in years to come.
1980s
1980s: Branching out
1982
A specialist donkey hospital is built at Slade House Farm. We’ve provided specialist veterinary care for donkeys and mules ever since. We also hold our very first Donkey Week for 110 attendees.
1983
Our work in Ireland begins after we receive a very concerned letter from a woman reporting a donkey who had been abandoned on a very small island inhabited only by sheep.
The rescued donkey newly named ‘Islander’ paves the way for thousands of Irish donkeys and mules that have been reached by The Donkey Sanctuary.
In the same year, we also start working in Mexico.
1986
We start working in Ethiopia.
1987
The Donkey Sanctuary Ireland is established, with the Barrett family, who had worked for many years to take donkeys in need into their own sanctuary in Ireland, becoming an official part of The Donkey Sanctuary family.
Our first overseas sanctuary is also established in Lamu, Kenya following two years of work with improving donkey welfare on the island.
1990s
1990s: Stepping ahead
1991
Our work in the Americas takes root. Dr Svendsen is invited to the Caribbean Islands of Turks and Caicos at the bequest of their government in order to examine the situation of their feral donkeys.
We also see the arrival of our 5,000th donkey - Jenny, who arrives into our care after two years of being locked in a garage.
1994
Our donkey-assisted activities centre opens in Birmingham. It is the first of its kind outside of our original sanctuary in Devon.
Our Adopt a Donkey programme also begins.
1996
Hannigan’s Farm opens in Ireland to enable us to care for more Irish donkeys and mules in need.
1999
Our donkey-assisted activities centre opens in Leeds.
2000s
2000s: A new millennium for donkey care
2003
Our Spanish Sanctuary - El Refugio del Burrito - opens 3 July 2003. Although we had been carrying out work in Spain for a number of years, 2003 marks the date that a new sanctuary was opened there.
2004
Our donkey-assisted activities centre opens in Manchester.
2005
The Donkey Sanctuary Mexico is established. Having started work in Mexico in decades previous, 2005 sees our partnership cemented there by establishing a representative office, ensuring that donkeys and mules for years to come would have The Donkey Sanctuary fighting their corner.
2007
31 years after Dr Svendsen’s first visit there, The Donkey Sanctuary Cyprus is established.
2009
Il Refugio Degli Asinelli - The Donkey Sanctuary Italy - opens to the public. After receiving 22 tonnes of supplies the previous June, our Italian sanctuary opens its doors to the public to demonstrate the wonderful work they had been doing for donkeys and mules in need.
We team up with Animal Nepal for the first time. Over the past decade, The Donkey Sanctuary’s work in Nepal has been vital for improving the lives of donkeys and mules in Asia. Our partnership with Animal Nepal supplies first aid kits to donkey handlers, builds shelter for working animals, and has even ensured legislative change so that all working equines must take one rest day a week.
2010s
2010s: The journey continues
2011
On 11 May 2011 we were devastated by the loss of our founder Dr Svendsen.
It is thanks to her that the lives of innumerable donkeys around the world have improved. In fact, it is impossible to calculate just how many donkey and mules her kindness and determination have reached. Although we have directly cared for over 20,000 equines in the UK, the legacy that Dr Svendsen’s work has left resulted in something that will only continue to help donkeys exponentially: changes in attitudes towards donkey welfare across the globe.
2017
Our purpose-built, state-of-the-art donkey hospital opens at Brookfield Farm, Devon. The completion of our specially designed hospital in Sidmouth enables experts in the field of donkey care to diagnose and treat sick and injured animals to the highest standard.
2020s
2020s: Looking to the future
2020
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we launch the award-nominated Sanctuary From Your Sofa live streams from our Sidmouth sanctuary, showing how we adapted and continued to look after the donkeys in our care.
2021
With the COVID-19 pandemic still causing much disruption, we launch our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund (CERF) in July. The fund helps four partners tackle the immediate and acute impacts of the pandemic on donkeys in Nepal, India and Ethiopia.
2022
We launch our Stop the Slaughter campaign, highlighting the connections the donkey skin trade has to organised crime and the devastating impacts it has on donkeys and donkey owners.
2024
After years of campaigning, we celebrate the African Union’s decision to ban donkey slaughter across the continent.
