Mission: donkey rescue

June 22, 2008

IOL South Africa

June 20 2008 at 01:43PM

By Rivonia NaiduHe's been affectionately named Coffee because of the area he was rescued from. He has big brown eyes that could make anybody fall in love with him. His favourite food is brown bread, and he's a donkey that has captured the hearts of many pet lovers."And to think he could have died if someone hadn't called us to rescue him," said Vicky Power from the Kloof and Highway Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Speaking about Coffee's miraculous rescue and recovery process, Power said staff and volunteers from the SPCA were "thankful" to have been called out to the coffee farm area of Mariannhill on June 3 to help save the two-year-old donkey's life. She said when they arrived on the scene, they were "saddened" to find Coffee stuck in a "very small soak pit", a hole where sewage slowly seeps into the ground through holes on the sides and bottom.Power said according to residents Coffee had been trapped in the soak pit for about 40 hours before he was rescued. "When the rescue process began, one of the volunteers had to go into the soak pit and tie two ropes underneath Coffee's body so he could be pulled out of it. When he was lifted out of the hole by staff and community members, he was too sore and weak to stand on his own," she said.Power said Coffee was weak and unable to stand for about two days after he had been rescued."He had a badly bruised eye, pulled muscles at the base of his spine and inside his groin and stiff muscles at the base of his neck. "He was also in shock because of the incident."He was placed into a sling until he was able to support himself. He underwent physiotherapy treatment, bemer treatment (a new form of pain relief medication), homeopathic treatment for the shock and he was placed on anti inflammatory medication," she said.She said while Coffee is "still in a lot of pain, he is making a good recovery". "It was such a horrible sight to see him stuck in that soak pit and we had to rescue him because he's still a baby … when we removed him from the soak pit we were so glad," she said. Since his arrival at the Horse Care Unit in Kloof, Coffee has not only made a speedy recovery, but he's also become good friends with the baby donkey Moses who was placed in his stable. "Donkeys can die if they suffer from stress, and they're not used to being alone. Loneliness can lead to immense stress, so we put Moses into Coffee's stable to keep him company. "It's nice to see they've become quite good friends and if anybody wants to adopt Coffee, they'll have to adopt Moses, too," said Power.

This article was originally published on page 8 of Daily News on June 19, 2008