News and Articles

Our Stories

Latest news from the Trust

Read the latest news from the trust from all around New Zealand. We’ll try to keep you up to date with what is happening, the latest advice and some great information for caring for your donkey or mule.

What do we do with the Donkeys?

In May we met Pele and Mickey, who were in dire need of care and companionship. These two beautiful donkeys had been...

A Donkey for Christmas

Just before Christmas a supporter of the Trust purchased a donkey via TradeMe. The donkey was initially advertised as...

Rilla – a new friend for Tango?

Early in the new year, we got the call from a lovely young couple who had a three-year-old jenny who had lost her...

The boys are striking out on their own

As you are aware from our earlier posts, the Trust was asked to help rehome five donkeys, Sarah, Lauren, Ava, Humphrey...

And two makes Seven!

As per our previous post, the Trust was asked to help rehome five donkeys, Sarah, Lauren, Ava, Humphrey and Bogart. ...

Meet the Newbies – a not-so-famous five

The Trust was recently asked to help rehome five donkeys located in the lower North Island. There are three jennies...

Weatherby of Mamaku

Weatherby came to the Mamaku Rescue and Rehoming Centre with a number of nasty gashes as he was constantly escaping...

Donkeys love visitors

Recently Pauline of the Mamaku Rescue and Rehoming Centre welcomed Pippi, Gregg and Susie to the centre out of Rotorua...

And away we go… Jake and Benny

Jake and Benny recently returned to the Mamaku rehoming centre once again after being rehomed a number of times due to...

Introducing Her Grace, Duchess Florence

This is Duchess Florence. She came to the Mamaku Rehoming centre without a name. We had a naming promotion through...

Want to read more?

Subscribe to our newsletter below to receive more news and articles, where you can find a lot more information and advice.

Facebook Feed

Articles from our Facebook page

This message is only visible to admins.
Problem displaying Facebook posts. Backup cache in use.

Error: Error validating access token: The user has not authorized application 1332798716823516.
Type: OAuthException

As you know the Trust is often asked to take donkeys into care when owner's circumstances have changed and they can no longer care for their donkeys as they want to. We wanted to assure current and past owners that their much-loved donkeys will remain forever within the protective care of the Trust. To that end we have explored programs of rescue organisations in other countries, consulted with past Trustees and talked to owners, past and present, as well as our guardians about the best way to make this a reality.
Our program for “Rehoming Trust Donkeys” is the result. Now our donkeys remain forever in the ownership of the Trust and go to Trust-approved custodians who take on the care of the donkeys as if they were their own, but with the full understanding that each donkey remains a Trust donkey for life.

This program replaces our previous adoption process in which the donkey’s ownership was transferred. Now Trust donkeys must be returned to the Trust if the custodians circumstances change in the future. It also means that we are able to encourage custodians to care for our donkeys as they should i.e. regular farrier visits, worming and dental care.

Current owners thinking of relinquishing their donkeys into the care of the Trust will know that the Trust will oversee the continued care of their donkeys and that the donkeys cannot be moved on to other owners without the Trust having any knowledge of the transfer.

Our photo is of Santo, Mickey and Milo who are the inaugural members of our program. They are are in the loving care of a family of Trust custodians but continue to be owned by the Trust. ... See MoreSee Less