IT’S TIME TO TALK TURKEY ABOUT DONKEYS

I’M afraid this is the part of the column at the time of the year when I go on the cadge. Not for myself, I hasten to add — I’ve tried that and the results, to be frank, were not uplifting.

This appeal is on behalf of the Hilltop Sanctuary in Co Clare. Catriona and Pat Lowry look after some 70 rescue animals that have suffered abuse. The sanctuary has just released its 2021 calendars, featuring photos of their animals. My own particular favourite is a donkey called Eli (below), who until she fetched up in Hilltop Sanctuary endured a very hard life indeed. She has now settled in well.

I’m particularly fond of donkeys, and am intrigued by the wild of the species, now confined to Ethiopia and Somali. I first saw them in Basel Zoo, in Switzerland. Now, I’m not a great one for zoos, but it’s inc incontestable that ma many of them provide a lifesaving li service wi with breeding progra grammes for endange gered species. And so it is i with Basel Zoo. Se Several dozen wild as asses have been born he here since their progr gramme began in th the 1970s, and have si since been reintroduced to their native habitats.

Meanwhile back a at the Hilltop Sanctuary, Eli has recovered well t thanks to Catriona a and Pat, and is now e enjoying life in Co Clare. If you’d like one of the sanctuary’s 2 2021 calendars, ping an email over to Catriona Lowry at catlowry54@gmail.com.

They only cost €10, and it’s for a good cause. So good that Catriona and Pat could very well be in line to receive this column’s first post-Covid hug.