A place to call home
EARS Donkey Sanctuary, 10km outside of Greyton in the Overberg, Western Cape, offers a loving and caring home to 15 permanent donkey residents rescued from abuse or abandonment. Our Sanctuary is managed by experienced equine manager Penny James supported by welfare assistants Shannon Zietsman, Monray Zietsman and Ethan Loff plus a host of volunteers. We welcome visitors of all ages, especially school groups who enjoy interacting with our gentle donkeys.
We have a Charity Shop in Main Road, Greyton where we sell gently worn items, the proceeds of which are ploughed back into our rescue and rehabilitation work. As a registered NPO we rely heavily on donations to continue to care for our rescues.
What we do
Support
Historically, donkeys are ‘beasts of burden’ used to pull laden carts or ploughs and carry people. Because they’re hardy and strong, they’re often overworked, neglected or abused. EARS Donkey Sanctuary employs the assistance of law enforcement to remove donkeys from abusive owners and prosecutes where necessary. Donkeys that are confiscated are cared for at our Sanctuary either permanently or until suitable, loving and caring homes are found for them.
Educate
Compassion is taught and the earlier children are taught compassion for animals, the less likely abuse will occur. We welcome school groups to our Sanctuary where Sanctuary manager Penny and her assistants will help children to understand that donkeys are sentient beings through their individual rescue stories. Our donkeys are gentle with visitors and children will be encouraged to stroke them and groom them.
Rehabilitate
A large part of our work involves rehabilitating the animals we rescue. Years of abuse instills fear, anger, aggression or even total shutdown in animals and it takes patience, love, gentleness and an innate understanding of the animal’s needs to overcome this. Our Sanctuary manager Penny James is passionate about the animals in her care and will do all in her power to help them feel loved, sheltered and safe from harm. Penny understands that physical and emotional needs must be met for an abused donkey to learn to trust again
Adopt a donkey
Our ‘adopt a donkey’ programme offers you the chance to ‘adopt’ one of our Sanctuary donkeys either for yourself, or as a gift for a child or friend.
For R1200 a year, or R100 a month, you get to choose your donkey (we can choose one for you if you can’t get to the Sanctuary) and receive a personalised adoption certificate with your donkey’s photo and the adoptee’s name.
All of our donkeys have interesting stories, and all are such delightful characters so every quarter every adoptive parent will also receive a newsletter about their donkey.
This is a great gift for someone who has everything, or for a child who loves animals.
