Thursday 18 December 2008

Joe and the donkey sanctuary.


Since the middle of summer Joe has been helping at the donkey sanctuary “El Paraíso del burro” in Arrobes about 8 kms from the hotel. The sanctuary has been operating just over a year and is run by a Dutch couple; Marlene and Leo.



Marelene with two of the donkeys.

Although a donkey sanctuary is a well established concept in the UK and Holland it’s a new idea here in North Spain. What Marlene wants is that when the working life of a donkey has finished there is a place where they can go and enjoy their retirement. Thanks to Marlene and with the help of volunteers and people who are “adopting” a donkey this is now becoming possible. Over the last few months there has been a lot of interest from both regional and national media, and they now have 14 donkeys in total.



Joe goes once a week and helps with the grooming of the donkeys and other work that needs doing on the farm. Although some of the work might be similar to the work we have on our own farm, she finds it a complete break from the hotel, enjoys the contact with the animals and has great admiration for Marlene and Leo and their enthusiasm and dedication to the project.



If anyone wants to get involved with the project or wants more information, they can get in contact directly with Marlene at; Marleen.verhoef@hotmail.com or contact Joe at the hotel web address hotel@posadadelvalle.com

1 comment:

Samantha Burch said...

guapa es esa mama.
Que bonito el lugar donde estan los burros, deben de sentirse liberados de su pasado.
bss

Welcome

Hotel Posada del Valle is a small hotel in Asturias Northern Spain surrounded by its own organic farm and where we are passionate about organic farming, food, and sustainable livelihoods. In this Blog those of us who live and work at Hotel Posada del Valle open a door to share with all of you who are interested in what we are doing.