Adopt a Donkey

By adopting a donkey for yourself, or sharing the joy by gifting a donkey adoption to a loved one, you are doing something amazing.

Choose your favourite donkey

How adoption helps

From £4 a month, your ongoing support reaches donkeys around the world. It helps to provide food and medicines, pay for vets and builds shelters and hospitals. Most importantly of all, it can help rescue helpless donkeys from hopeless situations.

Results x16 16 results

Ashley

A charming chap, who despite losing an eye still has a big personality and a radar for fun.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A charming chap
An image of a grey donkey in a grass field stood sideways looking towards the right.
An image of a grey donkey facing the right while grazing in a grass field.
An image of a grey donkey in an outdoor paddock stood with its body facing the right but its head looking to the left.

Cleo

Cleo is a social butterfly and loves spending time with both humans and donkeys alike.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A social butterfly
An image of a dark brown donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a dark brown donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a dark brown donkey in a grass paddock.

Cocoa

A sweet, calm donkey enjoying his golden years and always putting others before himself.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A sweet boy
A brown donkey with a white nose in a field
A brown donkey with a white nose in a field
A brown donkey with a white nose in a field

Drizzle

Drizzle is a laid-back and popular member of her herd. Her gorgeous coat makes her easy to spot.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A ray of sunshine
An image of a skewbald donkey in a grass paddock
An image of a skewbald donkey in a grass paddock
An image of a skewbald donkey in a grass paddock

Felicity

A sweet-natured girl with the most gorgeous fluffy coat, earning her the nickname Fluffy Felicity!

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A fluffy girl
A brown donkey with a white nose in a field
A brown donkey with a white nose in a field
A brown donkey with a white nose in a field

Jasper

A curious donkey who always loves trying new activities and basking in the sun.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A laid-back boy
An image of a brown donkey with a grey face in a grass paddock.
An image of a brown donkey with a grey face in a grass paddock.
An image of a brown donkey with a grey face in a grass paddock.

Jimmy

A playful and inquisitive donkey who is always up for some fun and likes to keep his grooms on their toes.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
An inquisitive boy
An image of a brown donkey stood in a grass paddock.
A brown donkey stood in a field
An image of a brown donkey stood in a grass paddock.

Marko

Marko is an incredibly playful and energetic donkey, always willing to play with his donkeys friends at our Belfast sanctuary.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A bundle of energy
An image of a brown donkey with a grey face in a grass paddock.
An image of a brown donkey with a grey face in a grass paddock.
An image of a brown donkey with a grey face in a grass paddock.

Maverick

Miniature in size but mighty in personality, Maverick is a big character at our Sidmouth sanctuary.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A playful boy
A white donkey with blue eyes in a field
A white donkey with blue eyes in a field
A white donkey with blue eyes in a field

Peanut

Peanut may be a miniature donkey, but he is a big foodie and loves activities which involve his favourite treats.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A loving miniature
A grey donkey in a field
A grey donkey in a field
A grey donkey in a field

Strawberry

A sociable, playful donkey who loves lots of fuss and attention.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
An affectionate girl
An image of a donkey with a reddish, white coat stood in an outdoor paddock.
An image of a donkey with a reddish, white coat grazing in an outdoor paddock.
An image of a donkey with a reddish, white coat stood in an outdoor paddock.

Tat

A popular and sociable donkey who is an expert at having fun. He always knows how to brighten up everyone’s day.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
An expert at fun
An image of a brown donkey with a grey face in a grass paddock.
An image of a brown donkey with a grey face in a grass paddock.
An image of a brown donkey with a grey face in a grass paddock.

Theo

Theo is an incredibly laid-back character, who loves spending time with his son David.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A brave dad
An image of a skewbald donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a skewbald donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a skewbald donkey in a grass paddock.

Tornado

His name may be Tornado, but this charming donkey is a very gentle and polite member of his herd.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A gentle donkey
An image of a dark brown donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a dark brown donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a dark brown donkey in a grass paddock.

Walter

A confident chap who is easy to spot with his recognisable brown and white markings and pink nose.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A fun-loving boy
An image of a skewbald donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a skewbald donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a skewbald donkey in a grass paddock.

Zena

Zena is a sweet girl who overcame the odds after a difficult start to life. Nowadays, she loves playing with her donkey friends.

Tell me more Adopt for £4/mth
A sweet girl
An image of a dark brown donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a dark brown donkey in a grass paddock.
An image of a dark brown donkey in a grass paddock.

What's included in an adoption pack

Why adopt a donkey?

When you adopt a donkey with The Donkey Sanctuary your ongoing support will reach donkeys around the world. It could help buy food and medicines, help to pay for vets and help build shelters and hospitals. And, most importantly of all, it can rescue helpless donkeys from hopeless situations.

By adopting a donkey for yourself, or sharing the joy by giving the gift of a donkey adoption to a loved one, you are doing something amazing.

What’s included?

Find your perfect match today and you or your loved one will receive a beautiful adoption pack (we aim to deliver within 14 days). Your pack will include:

  1. Two gorgeous portraits of your donkey and their story
  2. A display frame for your portraits
  3. Four beautiful postcards to share
  4. Your adoption certificate
  5. Your keepsake membership card
  6. A guide to getting the most from your adoption
  7. Two updates on your donkey in spring and autumn.
An image of an assortment of portraits of a brown donkey, a yellow certificate and small postcards of a brown donkey.

  • We always try to get your beautiful adoption pack or renewal pack delivered in the UK within 14 days. Deliveries to overseas addresses may take longer. Please be aware that we use the Royal Mail service, and delivery timescales are subject to any delays that they may be experiencing. In the meantime, you can download your printable adoption certificate from your confirmation email.

  • Yes, if your adoption donkey lives at our Sidmouth sanctuary you can visit. The sanctuary is open to the public seven days a week from 9am – 5pm. From 3 November, our Sidmouth sanctuary will be open from 9am - 4pm. All of our Sidmouth adoption donkeys can easily be spotted among the herd as they wear blue collars.

    If you adopt one of our Belfast donkeys you will be able to visit them on selected dates throughout the year. For information on open days and to book tickets please visit our Belfast visitor page.

    Please note that we do not bring adoption donkey over to adopters individually as we respect their freedom of choice to move around their paddocks. If your adoption donkey is not in view, often they will appear as they move within their environment if you wait patiently. We thank you for your understanding that, with animals who have freedom of choice, not every donkey will be in view all the time.  

  • Your adoption pack will contain two beautiful portraits of your brand new friend, four postcards, a certificate and a membership card, which will all be safely tucked away inside a cardboard frame.

  • If you choose to take the adoption pack away with you on the day, it will be exactly the same as those ordered online, however we will be unable to personalise your certificate. If you would like your certificate to be personalised, please speak to a member of staff in the gift shop who can arrange this for you.

  • It costs just £4 a month or £48 for the year to adopt a donkey. The average cost of keeping a donkey is now a staggering £2,000 a year. Your money will be used to help with feed, bedding and medical bills among the many other costs of providing a safe home for our donkeys.

  • If you adopted online, you should have received an email confirming payment. Do get in touch if you have any issues – you can complete our online contact form or call our team on 01395 573133 between 8:30am and 4:30pm on weekdays.

  • Due to the nature of our adoption scheme, it’s important to allow multiple people to adopt each donkey. The scheme is a vital way of raising funds to support the donkeys in our care, as well as our work and projects worldwide. Restricting adoptions to one adopter per donkey would vastly affect the amount of money we could raise through the scheme, and would also weaken the experience of those who have chosen to adopt.

  • Yes. We welcome adopters from all over the world to our wonderful adoption family. If you adopt, your adoption pack will be sent directly to your address, but please be aware that delivery may take longer than our standard 14 days and additional postage costs will apply. Postage within the EU is £4 and the rest of the world £6. Do note that some countries may charge their own import taxes.

  • Yes. If adopting from a foreign bank account, the equivalent adoption fee will be taken at current exchange rates. However, please note that you can only adopt by Direct Debit from a UK bank account.

  • Yes. You will have the option to buy as a gift when you adopt. Just follow the instructions once you add your donkey to the basket, and we’ll make sure you receive the adoption pack ready to wrap. All future correspondence will then be sent to the adopter’s address.

  • There are nine webcams available to watch across our main sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon. You might be able to spot Drizzle, Strawberry and Tornado and in Shelter 1, Cocoa and Walter in Shelter 2, Ashley, Zena and Cleo in Shelter 4, Tat and Theo in Main Barn as well as Peanut and Maverick in Dawn Barn.

    At this time, Jimmy and Jasper don’t have a webcam at Shelter 5 and Felicity and Marko don’t have a webcam at their shelter at our Belfast sanctuary.

    All of our Sidmouth adoption donkeys can easily be spotted among the herd as they wear blue collars.