In November 24, our Equine Care team consisting of vet and Equine Care Programme Coordinator Elisa Geskou, dental technician Alkis Gkeskos and farrier Vaios Bakratsas, visited Donkeyland in order to offer their services to the donkey residents.
Donkeyland (Gaidourohora) is a sanctuary for donkeys in the Attica region. It is situated in a rural area not very far from hills with local wildlife and surrounded mostly by tree plantations. Elderly, abandoned, abused or neglected donkeys find a refuge where they receive a lot of care, often, for the rest of their lives. The Hellenic Donkey Center is the educative part of Donkeyland and its goal is to “introduce” this unknown and misunderstood animal to today’s people, especially children, to highlight its amazing character, and to build awareness and respect.
Donkeyland’s Tatiana and Dimitris who run this unique – near the capital of Greece – place, have been doing so with great love and passion for many years. The Equine Programme has long been cooperating with them regarding rescues or veterinary and other matters, but this was the first time that the members of our current equine team visited the place.
Our team was amazed by how all the employees, volunteers and, of course, Dimitris and Tatiana, work for the donkeys. It was, also, delightful to see how healthy these animals are despite their age and any, associated or not, problems, but also how friendly and socialized.
Our team checked and treated 21 donkeys.
All of the donkeys receive farriery, dental and medical treatments all through the years. This was apparent, for example, regarding their teeth. With very few exceptions, they needed nothing but, the nevertheless necessary, annual routine floating of sharp edges and small hooks. Some initially resisted it but soon they realized it is not going to harm them and remained calm and steady.
There was one important case involving an elderly female donkey with an uneasy character, which had arrived recently from Andros. She was found to have one of its lower back molars developed into a huge hook, causing constant pain at every movement of the tongue, injuring its base and making her nervous. Alkis reached the hook and reduced it with the motorized equipment, substantially stopping it from badly hurting the internal tissues; thus allowing the donkey to chew again comfortably with noticeable ease.
Dental sharp edges and a number of cheek teeth diastemas were found in a donkey with weight loss during the last months and special food was suggested to help it gain weight.
Vaios checked all donkeys and trimmed the ones needing it, while gave Dimitris – who does a great work being a self-taught donkey hoof trimmer – some important guidance and tips on demanding hoof cases. He received a mini farriery seminar on preventing hooves from cracking and treating hooves with white line separation or thrush. Vaios gave particular attention to two elderly donkeys who suffer from chronic laminitis and arthritis, while also applied self-made whole-sole supports to one of them, which instantly relieved it from part of the hoof pain. Elisa gave further advice on medical support to offer them quality of life.
Elisa discussed with Tatiana on medical advice for two wounds, one of which was a non-healing wound for a long time causing concerns to the carers. An epulis (oral mass connected to the gum) was noticed in the mouth of one of the donkeys, for which surgical removal was recommended, as it causes difficulty in chewing.
We thank Tatiana and Dimitris for transforming this cold day of our visit to a warm one with their hospitality. We continue to be in contact with our partners during the year, collaborate with them and support them anyway we can in what they know how to do best, caring for donkeys.
