Our donkey update – 8th January 2026

I want to start this first e-news update of 2026 by thanking everyone who donated to our Christmas Appeal.

Thanks to your generosity, our Christmas Appeal raised an incredible £53,822. Your gifts will not only help us keep three mobile vet teams on the road across the West Bank, but also run our rescue centre at Arrana, and our hospital and drop-in vet clinic at Nablus.

Crucially, your kindness has also made it possible to build a new surgical room at the hospital – something Dr Rakan and his team have needed for a long time to carry out more complex procedures in safe, sterile conditions.

Alongside the update on the surgical room, I’ve included a link to a lovely video of Ivy. She is nearly blind but recognises her beloved Dr Rakan’s voice – make sure to turn up the volume!

Thank you for all you do, and for caring so much about the donkeys, mules and horses who rely on us every day.

Thanks to your generous support, work is moving forward on the new veterinary facilities at our Nablus hospital in the West Bank. The main surgical room is built to stay well insulated in both extreme heat and cold.

All the materials arriving on site to help build the new surgical space at our Nablus clinic.

We’re now entering the final stages. In the coming weeks, the laboratory floor will be tiled, and a specialist rubber floor will be fitted in the surgical room to ensure it stays hygienic and easy to clean. A small kitchen area for staff will also be installed, with cupboards and a sink to support long working days.

Internal walls under construction, shaping the new surgical room where more complex procedures will soon be possible.

Soon, once this work is finished, we’ll begin sourcing laboratory equipment and surgical instruments. These new spaces will make a real difference – allowing safer procedures, better infection control, and improved recovery for the animals who depend on our care.

The dedicated laboratory structure is now complete, with finishing work underway to tile the walls and fit a specialist rubber floor in the coming weeks.

A few of the donkeys were recently moved from our rescue centre at Arrana to the hospital in Nablus after they began to lose weight. This included little Pen.

Pen had lost weight and needed extra feeding support at Nablus.

Being at Nablus means they now have access to extra food, nutritional supplements and close veterinary monitoring to help them regain strength and improve their body condition. You can already see a change in Pen’s body condition.

Pen and his friends are temporarily at Nablus until their body condition improves.

I’d like to finish my report today by saying a big thank you to you, our supporters, for helping to keep all our work in the West Bank running. We’re excited to know we will soon have a surgical room at Nablus to help with cases like Suzi’s – thank you.

Thank you ♥️♥️

None of this would be possible without your support. Every improvement at our hospital in Nablus strengthens our ability to respond when animals arrive in urgent need of care. Alongside the new surgical room, your kindness continues to keep our mobile vet teams working across the West Bank, Egypt and Gaza, reaching donkeys, mules and horses who have nowhere else to turn.

Thank you for helping us provide care to these gentle animals.

Please also take a moment to watch this heart-warming short video of Ivy – she is nearly blind, but recognises Dr Rakan’s voice as he gently calls her name. 
Click to play our video.