Donkey fostering

There's a donkey sanctuary near Sidmouth in Devon and we went there yesterday. They have about 430 donkeys currently in residence and the ones in this field are looking for foster homes. If you have an acre of land and some hard-standing you could be foster-parent to a donkey!We don't, sadly, so we had to make do with stroking the ones out in the yard. These are specially chosen because they like people and they work on a rota. I think this one was called Jack. The collars they wear tell you their sex (red for boys and yellow for girls), their name and age. Jack is 34 and lots of them were in their 20s or 30s.
Poor Jack has an abscess on his foot hence the plastic bag. Apparently donkeys have sensitive feet and don't like standing in mud. The care they are given in the sanctuary is quite remarkable and it's all funded by voluntary contributions. There was no entrance fee but plenty of collecting boxes. And a cafe serving very delicious food.

There's also a maze but GrandDaughter was more interested in the gravel.
We saw the middle of the maze - through the hedge - but never did reach it. When we found we were back at the entrance we decided we'd got close enough.

The Donkey Sanctuary began in Sidmouth but now the charity supports sanctuaries all over the world.