Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
These poor donkeys that were about to freeze to death in the falling snow and freezing cold have been rescued in the nick of time by villagers and sent to a shelter.
The donkeys’ rescue took place in the village of Cikrik in the district of Siverek in the south-eastern Turkish province of Urfa on 21st January.
Good-samaritan villager Mahsun Irgen, age not disclosed, said that when they found the donkeys, their condition was very poor and they were about to freeze to death.
He explained how he, his brothers and some friends were delighted to have saved the animals with their actions.
Videos of the rescue were shared by Mahsun on social media and have since been viewed some 1.5 million times.
In the first piece of footage, the donkeys can be seen standing motionless in the snow. A second video shows the donkeys eating the food given to them by the men.
A third video shows the men fashioning a makeshift shelter for the donkeys. And the final video shows the animals being loaded into a lorry and taken off to a new home.
After the videos went viral on social media, Draft Animal Protection and Rescue Association workers got involved.
The association’s founding president Okan Oflaz explained that they saw the donkeys’ plight on social media.
He said: “We contacted the residents of the village there. Our friends from the association went there by car and bought five donkeys.
“We will keep these animals on our rescue farm in Istanbul. If we find a good home for them, we will put these donkeys up for adoption.”
Hasan Kizil, who was part of the team that took the animals, said that the donkeys are in good health and that they will continue to live on a good farm in the future.
Siverek Municipality teams have taken 20 stray donkeys to animal shelters in the past few days due to the freezing temperatures in the region.