Lucy Fensom first went to Israel in 1989 at the age of 19, where she worked for the Jerusalem Society for the Protection of Animals.  It was whilst working there that she first encountered the terrible cruelty inflicted on donkeys throughout Israel and the Palestinian Territories. One encounter with a particularly badly wounded animal - who she named "Donk"  – resulted in her negotiating with its Bedouin owners to purchase the donkey.

Later, Lucy was able to arrange for the donkey to be transported all the way to an English animal sanctuary in Cambridgeshire, where Donk was nursed back to health and lived comfortably for the rest of his life.

This inspired Lucy to set up a permanent refuge centre and treatment programme in Israel itself, where these animals are often enslaved as beasts of burden, beaten, neglected, tortured for fun by children, and then finally left to die when they have outlived their usefulness.

By now Lucy was working as Senior Cabin Crew for British Airways, but this work only played a minor part of her life in comparison to her dedication to and love for donkeys, and in late 2000 Lucy left the airline to follow her dedication full-time.

So was born Safe Haven For Donkeys In The Holy Land, the only organisation dedicated to the welfare of working and abandoned donkeys in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.  Having moved from its original site in Ramla, near Jerusalem, the sanctuary and rescue centre is located on farmland at Gan Yoshiyya, near the Israeli towns of Netanya and Hadera, and only five miles from the volatile Palestinian territory of Tulkarem.

Now established as Safe Haven's Field Director, Lucy works tirelessly to improve the plight of donkeys in both Israel and the Palestinian Territories. But alongside the day-to-day running of the sanctuary and rescue centre and the expansion of the veterinary outreach programme, Lucy is planning an education programme to reach out to the hearts and minds of the Israeli and Palestinian people themselves. By creating a visitors centre for both local children and tourists as well as an information project for local farmers and schoolchildren, Lucy hopes to change peoples' attitudes towards these animals, thereby creating a better future for them.

In May 2002 Lucy was awarded the International Fund for Animal Welfare's "Animal Action Abroad" award for her services, which in conjunction with The Sunday People newspaper, saw Lucy receiving her award at a special presentation at The House of Commons in London.

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Summer 2002