13 donkeys rescued from waterlogged fields

A group of donkeys are recovering after being rescued from waterlogged fields in Cornwall last month.

A welfare officer from the Donkey Sanctuary alerted the RSPCA after she found a malnourished mare, alongside 6 others and a foal sheltering in a dilapidated exposed barn on 12 February.

There were also 5 stallions packed into another flimsy shed, some suffering from rain scald and long feet.

The Donkey Sanctuary welfare officer said: “It was a bad situation. The mares were distressed, underweight, frightened and cold. The condition of some of the stallions was very concerning. None of them had enough shelter and some of them had rain scald.

“We didn’t know how much food they were getting or how often. The weather was getting worse and we really couldn’t leave them in that situation any longer.”

The donkeys’ owners’ personal circumstances had changed dramatically so that she was no longer able to cope with her pets.

In torrential rain and gales a team of vets, handlers and lorry drivers removed the 13 donkeys and took them to the Donkey Sanctuary’s centre at Sidmouth, Devon.

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