Tarabelle

Tarabelle

Date of Birth: ± 2000

Gender: Female

Gotcha Day: 23/01/2017

Breed: Andalusian Donkey

Tarabelle was owned by an elderly couple. The husband, who was her primary caretaker, suffered a stroke which meant he had a tough time walking and could no longer care for her. However, he was the kind of person who had spoiled the donkey with lots of treats and daily groomings. She lived with a little goat but once the goat passed away, the couple felt that Tarabelle looked depressed. They wondered whether she would be able to join our guests. We were told she was about 17 years old but we believe she might’ve been older than that.

Unfortunately, Tarabelle is not interested in our equine family. She only seeks the attention, care and love of humans. She only seems happy when she is not in the fields. We can’t be sure of this but she might be a snob. Tarabelle absolutely adores spending time in the garden or hanging by the outdoor dining table when the humans are having lunch. She even assisted our founder to apply the famous KonMari decluttering method in the basement. On a hot summer day, she even invited herself inside the dining room to get away from the heat but most importantly the flies. She stayed inside the dining room for hours, resting and carefully walking around. Nothing was destroyed or even misplaced.

What? You've never seen a donkey in a dining room before?

Recently she seems to be warming up to Tintin and Victor, our other two donkeys. She can be heard braying to Victor when she’s in the field and he is not, or vice versa, but as soon as you put them together, she’s no longer really interested.

She is incredibly kind and sweet with us and is perfectly happy to be groomed, handled, scratched, as long as it is by humans. We are looking to save a human to put in the field with her but we have not been very successful yet.

It is important for (elderly) people to make arrangements for their pets in the event they get sick or pass away. Otherwise, it takes a toll on the animals.