Free Your Mind And Your Donkey Will Follow?

Gerry Kinsella with Wags & Trey…

n the surface, it would appear to be a simple case of Little Disney vs Big Disney, as a couple caring for two donkeys at their Rathnew home for over a decade are being forced by Donkey Sanctuary Ireland to give them up.

For Gerry and Sandra Kinsella, the idea of their beloved Wags and Trey being taken away inspired them to start an online petition that quickly garnered over 1,500 signatures.

At the centre of it all, they say, is a passport mix-up during Ireland’s first National Equine Census back in 2021, Wags and Trey having apparently arrived into Ireland from the UK. It’s a mix-up that purportedly sparked Donkey Sanctuary Ireland to begin proceedings to get the donkeys back to live with them at their Cork base.

That the donkeys have lived at Brickfield Sidings Farm beside Burke’s Hardware in Rathnew for 13 years has meant that they’ve built up something of a local fanbase, with Wicklow Animal Welfare’s founder Fiona Gammell among them.

“I know the two donkeys from driving past them so regularly,” she told The Bray People. “I always felt that they were two of the luckiest donkeys in Ireland, because of the beautiful home they were provided with and because you can tell just how well they are looked after.”

The Kinsellas’ cause has this week made national news, with even RTE reporting on their plight, but a spokesperson for DSI has stated, “We do not recognise the order of events and claims published on social media by the guardian”.

They also stated that they have “grounds for serious concern about both the conduct of the guardian and the welfare of the donkeys“.

This afternoon we asked Gerry and Sandra what the Donkey Sanctuary Ireland might be referring to when they say they don’t recognise the order of events or the Kinsellas’ claims on social media, and they replied, “Sorry, we did everything old style, as in letters, and we don’t know what they mean by that either“.

On Thursday, the couple were served with court papers. Which means that D-Day may be close.

“We have no option but to pursue legal proceedings,” explained the DSI spokesperson, “in the hope of settling on a resolution that is in the best interest of the donkeys involved.”

And as to Donkey Sanctuary Ireland’s grounds for serious concern…?

“Yet again, we don’t know what they are referring to,” Gerry tells us. “There is no welfare issue with our boys, but as to their concerns about us as guardians, I can’t answer that.

“All I can say is we are huge animal lovers and care for our boys with huge respect and lots of love.”

On Thursday, May 8th, Donkey Sanctuary Ireland finally listed their concerns here.