The Nerja Donkey Sanctuary is a registered charity dedicated to rescuing, caring for and protecting donkeys, mules and horses.
Since opening in June 2004 they have rescued hundreds of equines, caring for them and then moving them on to new homes where possible. Along the way they have given refuge to many other farmyard animals icluding countless goats, pigs, chickens, cats, turkeys and even sheep.
Their sanctuary functions as:
- A refuge for equines
- An education centre
- A tourist attraction
- A disabled riding centre
They do all of this thanks to your kind donations and adoption scheme. The Nerja Donkey Sancutary is a fully registered non-profit Spanish Association called the Malaga Association of Donkey Sanctuaries. They rely entirely on donations and receive no grants or help from the government, although they are currently working to achieve this.
Adopt a donkey for just 25 euros for one years adoption.
Nearly all of the donkeys in the sanctuary are available for adoption. Don’t worry, you don’t have to take the donkey home with you, you get a certificate for your donkey and regular updates about how the sanctuary and your adopted friend are coming along.
Adopting a donkey is the best way to support us and help our charity continue to grow. Here are the donkeys you can choose to adopt online:
David was born in the sanctuary in July 2010 during Spain’s successful World Cup campaign. He was named David in honor of David Villa. He is still affectionately called Baby David. He has grown up so quickly and now spends his time racing around in the back field with the other younger donkeys.
Farry was rescued from Frigiliana. He is the only brown adult donkey, he can be a bit of a trouble maker and isn’t afraid to push the bigger donkeys around to get to carrots. He suffered from mud fever over the winter but his legs have now recovered.
Connan the gentle giant is one of the biggest and rarest donkeys around. He is a Giant Andalucian Donkey and is one of less than 100 alive today (Spanish Royal Military Stud). These huge powerful donkeys were used to plough the steepest and highest mountains, but have now been replaced by tractors. The unwanted animals were left to die or sold to countries like Italy to end up as salami.
In the Spring of 2010 Chica travelled to us from Alicante as her previous owner was no longer able to care for her. At the time of arriving at the Sanctuary, Chica was 5 months pregnant and in the July during the world cup gave birth to Baby David.
How to adopt
If you would like to adopt any of the above donkeys, this can be done either via the Nerja Donkey Sancutuary website at www.nerjadonkeysanctuary.com