Colleferro: don't leave us alone
Posted on 25 May 2015.Open letter from Barbara Massa, Italian Country Manager, about Colleferro's trial.
Dear friends, sometimes our work can be extremely challenging and upsetting, seeing donkeys in distress. However, when we are feeling troubled we only need to take a look at the donkeys and mules in our care, to see the harmony which reigns over them, and to feel immensely happy to have been able to make such a difference to their lives.
One group of donkeys stands out in our minds - the group of "Colleferrro Mums" and their foals.
Carmela, Habiba, Gelsomina ... they did not have a name, the first time we saw them, in January 2013, in the midst of the wide fields between Rome and Frosinone. They had nothing, and were skin and bones, covered with parasites, amongst two hundred other donkeys, mules and horses. They struggled to move in search of food, dodging those animals who were too weak to get up and sometimes the bones of those who had given in.
If I close my eyes it seems to me that I’m still there, my boots sinking in the mud and Il Rifugio degli Asinelli jacket on to protect from the chilling breeze. Our Rifugio was side by side with the Italian Horse Protection (IHP) and the Ente Nazionale Protezione Animali (ENPA), all suddenly in the middle of the largest seizure of donkeys and horses which has ever happened in Italy. We had few resources and time was so that it was hard to organise anything, but we were moved by a huge desire to save those lives and end their suffering.
If I close my eyes, I see a beautiful tiny foal, as soft as a plush toy, we were unable to save him; he died shortly after our arrival, at a short distance from his mother. We saw how the initial distrust of the donkeys turned into confidence and hope. With the arrival of the trucks, the donkeys, horses and mules hurried up the ramps - we wonder if they felt like we humans did, that this was the first step towards their new life.
Thirty donkeys, mules and hinnies arrived here at our Rifugio after the seizure, and nine foals were born from the "Colleferro Mums". Nine special messengers of hope and joy.
I really wish we could say that their past is a closed chapter, but we can’t. It is not finished yet.
According to Italian law, they are still just seized: this means that they’re still property of the old owner. The court can decide whether to change the temporary seizure into confiscation, or to return the animals to the owner or to his family, back to the same places where they were starving and many other animals had already died.
I cannot help but think about it as I watch Camilla, the first filly born on May 1, 2013 in front of dozens of speechless visitors: now she is as tall as her mum Carmela and she perfectly plays the role of the "biggest sister". Rucola, the youngest, is peppery and curious, full of trust in humans. And then I see Syd, born Habiba, the tiny donkey who arrived here with skin cancer and one ear folded in half, who knows what or who broke it, in her previous life.
In July, the final verdict will be issued and it will decide the fate of two hundred animals rescued in Colleferro: the ones homed at IRDA and all of those who have been fostered by dozens of families all over Italy. Everything is in the hands of the Judge.
Together with the IHP and the ENPA, we worked hard to rescue all animals of Colleferro. We made a promise: that foals born here would never have known the suffering endured by their parents we did everything that was in our power to provide them with a Rifugio, a place where wounds on body and soul are healed. We will keep on doing so, by any lawful method, with your help.
We are working closely with our lawyers to ensure that the case for these beautiful donkeys, mules and hinnies are properly and fully represented to the judiciary in Rome.
Please stand by our side in this challenge, spread the story of Colleferro, and let your voice in their defence be heard.
Do not leave us alone. Do not leave them alone.