Our online store has reopened
You can find our gadgets here: https://store.ilrifugiodegliasinelli.org/
Please bear in mind that the current limitations due to the Covid-19 emergency may delay the delivery of your order.
In January 2019, the Rifugio degli Asinelli was involved in one of the largest seizures of equidae in recent years. In the province of Alessandria, over 40 donkeys were found in a state of neglect and in poor health. Immediately involved in operations related to animal welfare, we launched this appeal:
"Over 40 donkeys urgently need us: we are looking for caretakers willing to host them and help them start a new life."
Taddeo is 19 years old, and he is a beautiful all white donkey. He has a difficult past. Taddeo as well comes from the big seizure of Colleferro in 2013, the largest seizure of equidae that ever occurred in Italy. He arrives at the Rifugio in that year and, like many of his companions, he bears the suffering he has suffered in his body and soul. His character is harsh and diffident, Taddeo has never met a veterinarian, nobody has ever taken care of his hooves and hair. When we tried to approach him, he kicked nervously.
Mimì and Rucola were born at the Refuge a few years ago. They are two young donkeys, who have not known the suffering and uncertainty of many of our other guests (read the story of Dante and Margherita here). Yet even if born in a protected context, their mothers come from complicated backgrounds. Giorgina, Mimì's mother, arrived at the Rifugio from Veneto and was so undernourished that we didn't realize that she was pregnant. Surprisingly, we watched her belly grow in the weeks following her arrival at the Rifugio. Mimì was born in 2016.
If we were to give a prize to the two most playful donkeys of the Rifugio, the winners would undoubtedly be Zenzero and Mirtillo.
Dante and Margherita tell a story of suffering, fortunately with a happy ending. But above all they tell a love story.
Dante and Margherita arrived at the Rifugio in 2013. Their health conditions were very poor. Unfortunately, the world has not been kind to them, their bodies and souls were ailing. They arrived from the big seizure of Colleferro, a town between Rome and Frosinone. A place of horror where, in that year, hundreds of abandoned equidae had been left to die. We, at the Rifugio, recued and welcomed 52 of them. Their lives have now changed.
It is with great sorrow, that we had to say goodbye to John Florio, blue collar of the exclusive adoption, for years one of our beloved donkey therapists.
Abandoned in the Romanian countryside, deeply marked in the body and mind, he was found hungry and with a deformed limb due to a previous fracture never cured. Welcomed to the Refuge in 2008, at the age of six, he immediately stood out for his strong and combative character, typical of those who decide to react to a difficult life.
Don’t miss the last chance of the year to spend time with donkeys and get to know them more closely on our Christmas Grooming Day.
On Wednesday, 4 December the volunteers of Torino are organizing a gourmet vegan fundraising evening at The Garden of Alice to support the Refuge and be an evening to combine taste and solidarity.
One of the moments of greatest contact between those who work at the Refuge and donkeys is during grooming, which is where many anecdotes about the Magnificent Eight come from.
