Rest in Peace Dr Elisabeth Svendsen MBE (1930 – 2011)

Source.

On Wednesday Elisabeth Svendsen the founder of the amazing Donkey Sanctuary sadly passed away, aged 81 years, after suffering a stroke.

The Donkey Sanctuary is a marvellous charity, established by Elisabeth in 1969.  The headquarters are in Sidmouth, Devon and the Sanctuary has cared for over 14,500 elderly and disabled donkeys as of this year.  In the mid 1970's Elisabeth established a sister charity called the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys which provides riding therapy between donkeys and children with special needs, the aim being to bring enjoyment and pleasure into the lives of the children. 

Elisabeth is one of my all time icons and I have been a huge follower of The Donkey Sanctuary from a young age.  Myself and my sister were both supporters of the Adopt a Donkey scheme for a number of years adopting Oscar and Donk Dean from the Birmingham branch.

My kindest wishes and condolences go out to all of Elisabeth's family, friends, colleagues and of course, beloved donkeys at this very sad time.

Official Announcement.

In Memory by David Cook, CE of The Donkey Sanctuary.

Join me in recording your own message of condolence for Elisabeth HERE.

List - 5 Small Ways to Make A Difference

There are many ways available to make a small difference without putting too much effort in, obviously the more effort the better but I know life sometimes gets in the way. Here are five small ways to make a difference to the lives of animals and the environment:

1. If you are selling on eBay then allow at least 10% of your profit to be donated to charity, I did this recently and made a very small amount for The Dogs Trust and Cats Protection League. Even though it was a small amount it would have helped a little.

2. Pick up litter. Litter can be dangerous for small animals who can hurt themselves and get trapped inside. For example the plastic stringy can holders from multi-packs of cans. These are possibly the most damaging type of litter. I have seen pictures of birds and ducks with them trapped round their necks. If you do see one lying about please pick it up, break it into pieces and put it in the dustbin.

3. Sign up for Action Alerts, if you visit websites such as IFAW, PETA etc you are able to sign up for Action Alerts, they will e-mail you with any causes needing action. The actions are simply taking a few minutes to sign a petition or enter your details on a readily prepared letter. They do send messages asking for donations but as I can never afford to donate I stick to doing the other things to help.

4. Spread the word. Forward the Action Alerts to your friends, share it on Facebook, tell people you know why they shouldn't buy seafood imported from Canada. You'll be surprised what a difference this can make. There is a chance that your friends will tell their friends and so on.

5. Treat your loved ones and make a difference at the same time. Perhaps one of your children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews would like to adopt a dolphin for their birthday this year, or perhaps the person who has everything would like to sponsor a dog from The Dogs Trust for a year? A few years ago I adopted a donkey from The Donkey Sanctuary called Oscar and received cards and newsletters on how he was doing, I even got to visit him once.