Edina stands on trembling legs. The 30-year-old donkey suddenly couldn’t get up two months ago. So it hung in the net from the ceiling of the barn for a while. Like a cow in helicopter transport. Now it’s back to running to some extent. However, as the donkeys did not accept unhealthy members of their own species, the animal was given a single place in front of the barn. There he is chewing an apple in slow motion.
At the Aline donkey house in Feldbach ZH, donkeys that no one wants anymore can enjoy the good life. Nearly all of the 39 animals that currently do this have survived a long ordeal. Their former owners misfed them, neglected them, and left them alone. Viktor Huber (73) says Edina had severe pain when she got home. He has been running it for twenty years with his wife Hanni (74). The soft, moist soils in Switzerland cause major problems for donkeys’ hooves. Because its wild forms come from the semi-desert and mountain regions of North Africa and the Near East.
There – or in today’s Turkey – St. Nicholas is said to be on the move in the first half of the 4th century, and members of the Christian culture commemorate it on December 6. He was known for his generosity and rode a donkey made to carry gifts. Therefore, Samichlaus as we know it today is traditionally accompanied by a donkey in addition to the Schmutzli.
Donkey rental requests will definitely be denied.
“I don’t think much of it,” Huber says. Because large groups of people – even if they consist of children – are a great source of stress for the animal. In addition, many Klauses have no idea how to treat a donkey. “Every year we have rental requests that we all turn down.”
Its inhabitants seem to enjoy life without any performance pressure. They stand in the large outdoor enclosure with the donkey “facial expression” like someone who has just woken up. An animal’s call interrupts comfort only once, and this is then repeated by others. It sounds like a creaking wooden door: “Yes, yes, yes.”
About twenty years ago, the Hubers had the idea to build a shelter for donkeys. It finances itself through sponsorships and donations. “It’s straight up bad,” Huber says. The cost of care and maintenance is approximately CHF 3,500 per animal per year. Every donkey that comes to the shelter undergoes a health check at the animal hospital in Zurich.
When sad animals stop eating
There have been about 100 animals since the house was founded. Many would have been euthanized if they had not found a place here. Not because they’re old, but because they’ve been severely neglected, Huber says. If space were not limited, the house could accommodate many more animals. The number of donkeys in Switzerland has increased by a third in the last seven years. By mid-year, 11,206 animals were reported, the Federal Department of Agriculture told CH Media newspapers.
Why would someone buy such a large animal and then not take care of it properly? Huber says this is because donkeys are completely underestimated, especially when it comes to their social needs. He stands next to Eddi, a dark brown with a snow-white nose. Before Eddi came home, she had separated from her sister and stopped eating out of grief. “We stood by her day and night until she started eating again.”