The Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary have confirmed the deaths of 2 of their much-loved animals – Nobby and Scott.
Nobby, one of the older donkeys at the sanctuary, had been suffering from a severe dose of colic and passed away today (Friday).
Tragically, staff were left with no option but to put fellow resident Scott to sleep this afternoon. Scott’s laminitis was so severe that there was no hope of any improvement.
Nobby was attended to through the night but by this morning his vital organs were beginning to fail and there was no other option but to put him to sleep, attended by farm manager Laura and our vet Anthi from Vectis Equine.
Since the beginning of November, Scott had intermittent episodes where he picked up his legs in a very high action and he looked uncomfortable in his back. This was investigated with blood tests and treated with painkillers. However, in late December it became apparent that the pain had become worse and after the death of his companion Oliver, Scott suddenly seemed to be showing a lot more discomfort.
In the last 4 days, his condition deteriorated so that he was having long periods of time lying down and not able to put weight on his right foreleg. X-rays showed that he had severe rotation of the pedal bone to the hoof wall, and showed that his bone had resorbed and reshaped completely. This process was irreversible and would be the cause of ongoing, severe pain.
A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary has said:
“This has been a torrid few months which has tested the emotions of all of us – staff, volunteers and supporters – and there are never any guarantees that all our troubles are over. However we will stand by what we set out to do when the current team arrived at the Sanctuary in 2012: we will be as honest as we can, keep people up to date with what is happening here (good and bad) and show our appreciation and support for all the kindness we receive from people who encourage us.
“Because we have a lot of animals, things seem worse when we have a tough period such as the one we are enduring. Nonetheless we have got to remain positive because there are a lot of animals who rely on us”.
Anybody who adopts Nobby or Scott may continue to adopt in memory of their donkey, or they may transfer their adoption to another donkey. People may of course wish to contact the donkey office to cancel their adoption on 01983 852693.
