The owner of a donkey sanctuary in Monachil, Rafael Fuentes, feels helpless – he is facing having to have his animals put down.

The Andalusia donkeys, once very commonplace in the villages of the region, are dying out because the generation of Andalusian campesinos that used them is dying out, too, but in their case, because of age rather than being obsolete.

For this reason Rafael decided to found a donkey sanctuary in Monachil several years back, but he hadn’t counted on the worse economic crisis in living memory. The 16 donkeys that live in the sanctuary are some of the few that survive, but now their days are seemingly numbered, as well.

Rafael and his wife, Aurora Morena, ploughed virtually all of the money that they earned from their respective jobs into the project, but now, what with the government grants drying up and the hike in animal-food prices, something has to give.

Conscious of the fact that there are families without a home and going hungry, the plight of 16 Andalusian donkeys takes back seat in the priority of those that want to help others, but Rafael and Aurora are desperate for help from the general public.

Interested and/or able to help? Contact them: Web: www.ganaderialasbellotas.com or email: rafa_fuentes@yahoo.es, Tel: 608 84 15 84  –  958 30 85 39  –  689 96 68 09

(News: Monachil, Granada, Andalucia)