Western Morning News (Saturday)
How to see the world through the eyes of a donkey
The Devon-based Donkey Sanctuary has a global plan to improve the lives of millions of donkeys. Athwenna sits down with the charity’s newly appointed chief executive, Marianne Steele, to find out more
Irons
SEEING the world through the eyes of a donkey is at the heart of The Donkey Sanctuary’s new five-year strategy – an ambitious plan that aims to improve the lives of five million donkeys worldwide.
The animal welfare charity, which has its international headquarters in Sidmouth, Devon, has a new chief executive and a new strategy, and is more confident than ever that seeing the world from a donkey’s perspective is key to creating lasting and positive change.
Marianne Steele, who was appointed chief executive of The Donkey Sanctuary in November 2022, said: “Dr Elisabeth Svendsen founded The Donkey Sanctuary over 50 years ago to strive towards a better world for donkeys and one where donkeys everywhere are treated with the kindness and respect they deserve.
“Our new strategy embraces these founding values and the positive impact of donkeys on communities, culture and the environment. Around the world, donkeys are intrinsically linked to the cultures and landscapes they inhabit. When we see the world through a donkey’s eyes, we see a way to improve the world, not just for donkeys, but for the people and communities that rely on them.”
This commitment to a single species is what sets The Donkey Sanctuary apart from other global animal charities and has allowed it to become a global leader in donkey welfare. Marianne joined The Donkey Sanctuary as director of fundraising and communications in 2010, following a long and varied career within the not-for-profit sector which included roles at the Museum of London, Tate Britain, Tate Modern and the Marine Conservation Society.
Appointed deputy chief executive in 2017 and acting chief executive officer in 2021, her tenure has seen The Donkey Sanctuary enjoy unprecedented growth in income generation, visitor engagement and public awareness about the importance of donkeys to vulnerable communities around the world.
Explaining what drew her to joining The Donkey Sanctuary some 13 years ago, Marianne said: “What drew me at that point was very much the international work, and I came with some of the same stereotypical assumptions of The Donkey Sanctuary that m o s t people have. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with the animals themselves, for their own value and the work we do here. More widely, we do a lot around conserva
tion, we inhabit lots of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and it’s lovely to see the way the right environment for a donkey is also the right environment for biodiversity to flourish.
“There are just so many different elements to the role and to the organisation, that I very much fell in love with the place. I’ve been here for quite a long time now, but in Donkey Sanctuary terms I’m still a babe in arms because we have people who have been with us for 40 to 45 years.”
Marianne’s motivation lies in a personal mission to change the perception of donkeys and the role they play in the world; animals she believes are deeply intelligent and sentient creatures that are underestimated by so many.
She said: “Donkeys remain in peril. They need our help. We cannot do this alone – building partnerships and communities is key. We’ll do this by sharing knowledge with those closest to donkeys and inspiring a movement of people who can help us drive positive change.
“We will intensify our campaign for an end to the donkey skin trade and continue our work with the UN and NGOs around the world to improve the welfare of working donkeys.
“Central to our strategy is elevating the status of donkeys. By dispelling myths and positioning donkeys as the highly intelligent and sensitive animals they are, deserving of our respect, we will create a demand for better welfare.”
The new strategy sets out how the charity will improve the welfare of donkeys in its care and around the world, with six clear goals over the next five years. These are to:
• Improve the lives of five million donkeys;
• Inspire a global community of one million to help us in our mission;
• Be leaders in a global plan for donkey welfare;
• Make The Donkey Sanctuary a great place to work and become a partner of choice;
• Establish world-class operational practices that make the most of our resources;
• Increase our income to deliver these goals.
Marianne added: “In a tumultuous world, our plans are ambitious, but we are confident we have the knowledge, passion and focus to improve the lives of millions of donkeys and honour the work Dr Svendsen started over half a century ago. Our work over the next five years will be driven by The Donkey Sanctuary’s vision of a world where every donkey has a good quality of life, and its mission to improve the lives of donkeys every day.”
The Sidmouth sanctuary is also a leading tourist attraction in the South West. In 2022, more than 400,000 people visited the sanctuary, helping boost the surrounding area, but, somewhat surprisingly, the majority of visitors are travelling from more far-flung postcodes. Marianne said: “It’s ironic, actually, that a lot of those [400,000] visitors will be coming from Sheffield or Edinburgh or London, yet we’re not quite so well known locally.
“Slowly but surely, particularly over recent years as The Kitchen has won a number of awards, we’re gathering a bigger local presence – people who come every Sunday for breakfast or to walk their dog here. I think we’re more widely known outside of Devon than inside, which is strange. We’d just really like to encourage the local people to come and learn more about The Donkey Sanctuary.”
Almost six months after stepping up to the plate, Marianne is thriving in the face of what are some serious and widespread challenges. “I think most of us have whiplash by the end of every day because you are leaping from something small like how can we compassionately deal with lots of moles on one of our farms, to how do we deal with the fact that the international trade in donkey skins for traditional Chinese medicine has now moved to Central America out of Africa. We’re always bouncing from challenge to challenge, it keeps it very fresh and interesting.”
She concluded: “It’s been really rewarding to watch the charity develop during my time here. I think what’s true of The Donkey Sanctuary is that we don’t scare easily – we’ve got a very clear-eyed view of what the challenges are in the world and we try and meet them with all of our ingenuity, science, research and knowledge. If we don’t do it, who will? We’re the donkey people.”