Covid19 Appeal

Covid19 Appeal

As the world faces a time of unprecedented crisis the outfall of Covid19 is beginning to affect us in a catastrophic manner. In line with government requirements we closed our gates in March and in doing so have all but virtually eradicated our source of income from visitors in what is normally the busiest period of our year.

From Easter until Halloween we normally welcome visitors from all over the world. These visitors browse in our gift shop, enjoy a cup of tea/coffee and make critically important donations towards our welfare work. Also and of equal importance we have the opportunity to meet new people and forge friendships which result in ongoing financial support for the donkeys from afar. In short visitors to the sanctuary are a lifeline for the donkeys in our care.

With some level of restrictions likely to apply post lockdown and having effectively missed the busiest part of the year we see very little prospect of being able to return to normal levels of income for the rest of this year and beyond. Travel restrictions in the governments phased plan will see people having to remain within a 20 km lockdown for some considerable time to come with visitors from abroad an unlikely possibility this summer.

So we find ourselves in the middle of a situation that is not of our making which is putting the future of Donegal Donkey Sanctuary in doubt. We are taking in an unprecedented number of animals at the moment as people struggle to cope financially with job losses and economic hardship. If we are to buy more time to give the sanctuary the space to overcome income losses then we must ask our supporters to donate whatever they can no matter how small to give the sanctuary a fighting chance of surviving and securing the future of our current residents and the many donkeys that will need our help in the future. As a small sanctuary we unfortunately always teeter on the edge of crisis and our supporters have come through in previous situations and we thank you each and every one. We do not have the luxury of a financial cushion and have probably never needed your help more. Thank you for taking the time to read this appeal. Please like and share our Covid19 appeal and remember no donation is too small.

Blue - Who arrived recently in dire need of our help