Eseltjiesrus Donkey Sanctuary Newsletter / Nuusbrief #46 Aug - Sep 2018
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| Newsletter / Nuusbrief #46 | August - October 2018 | ||
 Message from BellaGood day all! My name is Bella and I have lived here at Eseltjiesrus for ten years now. I grew up with horses so I tend to keep to myself rather than joining in paddock politics. I did have a little white friend here, Spokie, whom many of you will remember. She passed over the rainbow bridge in 2013. Now, suddenly, I have a white companion again! Popeye arrived at the end of May and we hang out together. Like me, he is also sensitive on his feet and shame – he has only one eye, with the other not 100%. So we understand one another. The best part is that we get to live in our own separate field while we work on improving his foot problems. There is a lovely new shelter, just for the two of us. Welcome, Popeye, be happy here in your for-ever home. |
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Report-back on our 11th AGMA letter from the Chairman of our Board:Dear Eseltjiesrus friends, On Wednesday evening 1st August we enjoyed a most wide-ranging and informative Annual General Meeting in McGregor with high quality presentations from all four members of our Executive Committee. Staff morale appears to be very good (most staff members attended and their contribution to the smooth running of the Sanctuary was recognised on quite a few occasions). Finances are sound and new horizons and challenges beckon. All in all, a very positive picture. Ton Vosloo was re-elected as a Board member (with acclaim!) and Johan van Zijl was elected as a non-executive Board member, that is with full voting rights. Johan will also continue to be involved in resource development, sustainability and specific events. Kind regards Anthony Coombe Thank you, Anthony, for your superb running of the meeting, and also to all the Board members for their continued wise guidance. The elected members of the Board are: Anthony Coombe, Johan du Preez, Johan van Zijl, Carole Hambleton-Moser, Sarah Kvalsvig, Louise Matschke, Jim McNamara, Mariana Rabie and Ton Vosloo. (See our new website for more details.) |
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Promoting the welfare and status of donkeys through a culture of caring
Email: info@donkeysanctuary.co.za ▪ Telephone: 023 625 1593 ▪ Fax: 086 614 7777
NEW Website: www.donkeysanctuary.co.za ▪ PO Box 29, McGregor, 6708, South Africa Patron: David Kramer ▪ NPO: 056-575 ▪ PBO: 930028734 |
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Coming Events |
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St Francis Day and Remembrance Ceremony - Sunday 7th October 10.30am at the SanctuaryCelebrating the glory of creation and the memories of loved ones. All are welcome, including well-behaved companion animals on leads. Almal welkom, asook troeteldiere aan leibande.We will honour departed loved ones and you are welcome to place a stone on our Memorial Cairn at any time. Please feel free to bring your own special stone. If you are unable to be here we will gladly place a stone for a special loved one, human or animal, at your request. Come and enjoy the music of the Winelands String Quartet, readings, companionship, the new Adam’s Walk and our delicious buffet lunch (Adults R100 / Children R60). Sorry, we cannot accept restaurant bookings but will accommodate you all. As we have a large number of visitors and this is the animals’ special day, we will not take people into the fields to meet the donkeys. Please remember this if you are wanting to interact with your special donkey. |
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Animal Welfare Workshop at Graaff Reinet – Tuesday 11th September.Our workshops are always very popular and provide not only new insights into welfare developments and assessments, but also a great opportunity for networking and connecting with like-minded people. If you would like to attend, or know of someone who might, please contact us at info@donkeysanctuary.co.za without delay. Places are limited and there is no charge. |
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Other news |
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Book Fair 2018 – held in May, was the most successful ever! A hearty thank you to all who worked so hard, including our volunteers and all you lovely bookworms who supported us. See you next year (17 to 19 May 2019). Remember that we sell books all year round at the Sanctuary in the Visitors’ Centre. Exciting news: Our new website is now live www.donkeysanctuary.co.za Do have a look. You can now adopt, donate, renew your adoptions, order wine and make payments by credit & debit cards and instant EFT online. Fostering donkeys: Eseltjiesrus can never accommodate every donkey in need. We place out young, healthy donkeys in twos or threes into approved foster homes. If you have a suitable property with shelter and constant supervision and would like to provide a loving long-term home to donkeys, please contact us for more information. We provide support and guidance all the way. |
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Other news |
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| ( We welcome Michelle Uren as our new Visitors’ Centre Co-ordinator. Michelle is well known to the donkeys in her role as Care volunteer, and has been a regular visitor at the Sanctuary. We are delighted to have you in the team, Michelle, and hope you will be very happy here. At the Sanctuary all is well, and the herd is cosy in their fluffy winter coats. Juanita, our Donkey Care and Farm Manager, and her team provide daily care which enables us to identify small problems before they become big problems. Our newest resident, Popeye, will need extensive corrective farriery over a period of months to address internal hoof damage. He is on medication and is not yet robust enough to be integrated with the herd. He is meeting the other donkeys in small numbers and looks very happy with Bella as his new Best Friend Forever! We continue to provide on-going support regarding care and welfare queries from all over Southern Africa. Some examples are: advising on donkey dairy farming in Botswana, hand-rearing a foal, treating a lame donkey, and Associated Press International seeking information and contacts regarding the skins trade in South Africa. In May we spoke to approximately 80 people at Helderberg Village in Somerset West. The event was extremely well received, donations were generous and much goodwill was established. We love telling groups about our work – please contact us and we will happily travel to you if it is feasible. Of course you are also welcome to bring a group to visit the Sanctuary. We will put together a programme for you. At the end of May we attended the Animal Welfare Workshop organised by the SA Veterinary Council, held in Pretoria. Eseltjiesrus is now a member of the National Animal Welfare Forum that was established there and we follow that with interest. It is gratifying to see increasing recognition of holistic welfare, beyond looking at health or production of animals. Animals should thrive, not survive. We celebrated Mandela Day on 18th July by visiting the Byekorf crèche in McGregor. Our staff worked on repairing   the playground apparatus, clearing the grounds, reading a story to the little ones and leaving them with two toy donkeys and a parcel of treats for each child.The staff returned the following week to finish off some of the tasks they had tackled. We keep contact with the group who attended the course on animal welfare legislation in Greyton and were visited by representatives from Cart Horse Protection Association and World Horse Welfare. These connections are stimulating and keep us in touch with work happening elsewhere. |
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Please support usDonations, adoptions, renewal of adoptions and wine orders can now be made online on our new website www.donkeysanctuary.co.za through PayFast which accepts Credit/debit cards and instant EFTs.
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Bank detailsEseltjiesrus Donkey Sanctuary
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Donkeys for AfricaThis is a communication portal for organisations and individuals promoting donkey welfare in the unique African situation. We have contact with donkey welfare workers in 16 African countries, as well as further afield. Newsletters are accessed through the website www.donkeysforafrica.org where there is also a library with relevant reference articles.The newsletters and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/donkeysforafrica/ have elicited positive feedback from readers in Africa, UK, Europe, the East and USA. It provides support and recognition to workers in donkey welfare in Africa: often a thankless and lonely task. One example is work we featured in the remote village of Samochima, Botswana, where this couple asked to be photographed in their church clothes with their donkey. This reflects the warm relationship between the welfare workers and the villagers. |
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We are OPEN from Thursdays to Sundays from 10am till 4pm.Visit us: Please check in with our Guides at the Visitors’ Centre when you arrive. Generally we try to take visitors into the fields to interact with the donkeys, but on very busy or extremely hot days we may limit contact visits, or you meet the donkeys over the fence. If there has been a veterinary visit we might also give the donkeys a break before asking them to greet you. Thank you for understanding.Tax certificates: Eseltjiesrus is a registered PBO and we have issued tax certificates for all donations (including adoptions) received in the tax year ending February 2018. Please contact us if you have not received yours. (adopt@donkeysanctuary.co.za) |
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New donkey reports go to adopters during September 2018 and the next newsletter will be sent during November 2018. If you would like to be a member of the Eseltjiesrus family and receive regular progress reports on a special donkey, do become an adopter! |
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