Queen is a 24 year old mare donkey standing at 10.1 hands. She was brought from a dealer at Appleby Gypsy Fair in Cumbria in May 1996 with another donkey called Princess. We learnt afterwards that the two of them had been tied to a hedge for nearly a week with no food or water. Queens coat was very matted,
she was badly undernourished and had very overgrown hooves. All these problems are due to neglect and lack of care by her owner.
Now fully recovered, she is in very good condition, and has formed a very close bond with Princess. We were unable to discover if they had been together before they came into our care but they certainly spend a lot of time in each others company. So much in fact, that we cannot use Queen to give rides to the disabled children who visit the Sanctuary unless Princess is with her!
The donkeys have also appeared on T.V. We were featured on Channel 4’s "Pet Rescuers" showing our rescued donkeys, some with the many problems they have when they arrive here. The programme went on to show how well they can recover to be able to help the disabled children benefit from the enjoyment of riding.