I visited and a Donkey sanctuary (EARS) for a couple of hours on Friday. And all the animals were super sweet. I had a long discussion with the manager and volunteers about their interactions with the animals, as well as each animal's history. Most of them were rescued from the immediate community and part of the rescue's work entails education and service for the animals (donkeys and horses) in the area. The area (Genadendal valley) is rural and horse and donkey drawn carts are a common sight.
The donkey's were friendly on approach and would immediately come and investigate when entering or approaching their pen. They would respond to verbal cues from their handlers. I intentionally didn't bring any treats to gauge the interaction. Though curious and receptive to human touch they couldn't care less about the visitation. All the donkeys lived in pairs, where one seem meaker and one more social. There seem to be a sense of protection and care taking in the way they approached and interacted with one another.
I was afforded the opportunity to explore un-guided and as I moved from one pen to another the donkeys would verbally call to each other, which I interpreted as sounding an alarm that somebody is coming over. And I would be treated by at least one of the pair if not both at the entrance gate to their pen. There would be lost of smelling and ear scratches, and similar to other domesticated animals like dogs, they seem apprehensive for any hand movements over there heads. Donkeys would follow me around the pen curiously for a while and then finally disperse to continue feeding (which sometimes included my shoelaces. The eldest donkey pair were uninterested in engaging and continued grazing, seemingly undisturbed.
All the donkeys at the sanctuary were domesticated working donkeys. Penny the manager introduced me a donkeys that came to the shelter with what she described as symptoms similar to PTSD, and recall that one donkey took almost 3 months to exit her trauma state and start trusting that in the new environment nothing is required of her. Some donkey still carry the emotional scars, it seems that the dyadic partnerships offers a corrective co-regulation function.
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