Il Rifugio degli Asinelli O.N.L.U.S.

Thanks to EST help and its trainers Robina Melling(Manchester) and Lauriel Harris(Sidmouth), Italian GM received first phase of training on donkey therapy. we agreed to start with 2 donkeys for donkey therapy and 2 for outreach work. I have easily selected 2 for outreach work that are Tudor and Costel. they both arrived in February 2008 from Romania. they were found abandoned together during the winter. Costel is 5 years old . he is a very friendly donkey, who loves to be cuddle and hugged.

On 29th January 2010, we rescued two donkeys that were confiscated by Corpo Forestale dello Stato della Valle d'Aosta,station of Valpelline.

Poldo and Silvia were found covered with lice and in very poor condition. Their hooves had not been trimmed and were painfully long and Silvia had problems just walking.

After the plight of the donkeys was discovered the court of Aosta confiscated them because their treatment was so bad. If the authorities had not intervened the donkeys would have died.

Il Rifugio degli Asinelli is looking now for people to adopt one of their rescued donkeys for Valentines day. By doing this people would not only provide a great and original present for their loved ones but be helping the charity raise much needed funds.

The Foundation Il Rifugio degli Asinelli O.N.L.U.S., in order to be able to care for the 107 donkeys actually in its care and to be able to save more donkeys from lives of misery and neglect, only relies on private donations.

The legislative proposal put forward by Paola Frassinetti, vice president of the Italian government's Culture Committee in November 2009, is meeting with mixed results. The aim is to transfer horses, and equines in general, from the category of "productive livestock" to that of "domestic animals", such as cats and dogs, as stated by the State Secretary for Health with responsibility for animal welfare, Francesca Martini. Unfortunately, "the groundwork is not yet complete, so we need to start with the basics", according to Martini.

In Italy donkey milk is used both as food and as a cosmetic ingredient because of its organoleptic properties which makes it particularly versatile.

There are many donkey breeding centres in Italy and unfortunately animal welfare tends to be sacrificed for the sake of profit. Having visited some of the centres, we found animals in terrible conditions, with the main problem being overgrown hooves.

We are now actively investigating animal welfare issues in breeding centres to raise awareness of animal welfare.

We are collecting information on the many kinds of donkey races which take place in Italy.

A few bits of news already:

There are more than 80 events, spread all over the country.

The events have little or no veterinary presence to check the health of the donkeys. In addition, the events are often linked to festivals or feasts in which donkey also features on the menu.

It is rare for the donkeys or jockeys to prepare for the races in any way.

Maria and her donkey friend, Jonny, had always lived together since being born, but unfortunately their owner wasn't able to look after them any longer and asked for our help.

On arrival from Valli di Lanzo (Lanzo Valley) in December 2008 both Maria and Jonny had severe problems with their hooves as well as being covered in parasites.

Luca was found abandoned in Romania and was riddled with serious wounds and covered by parasites, but now lives with our group of geriatric donkeys. Luca has serious teeth problems because nobody had ever cared for him. His diet now consists of soft herbs dressed by carrots and apples which are chopped up by our staff in order to help him to chew.