They just make you go “(e)awwww”

Is there any therapy quite like animal therapy?

The donkeys that reside at Tongala’s donkey shelter are there so that they may feel a little better, but after a visit to the shelter’s open day on the weekend, we were the ones who walked away feeling a little better.

The donkeys find themselves at the shelter for various reasons.

Some have been rescued from neglectful and cruel environments, some from being sold for pet meat at sale yards, and some have simply and sadly been given up by owners unable to care for them anymore.

Some donkeys who pass through the 64.75-hectare property will be rehomed if their health and temperament allow, but other ageing animals or ones who are suffering continued health issues will remain at the shelter to see out their days.

Currently there are 274 donkeys at the farm — a number founder and owner May Dodd says is a little higher than usual, but is a result of being unable to rehome as many donkeys as usual during the couple of years Victoria has been in and out of lockdowns.

The annual open day is a means to raise funds to contribute to the ongoing costs of farriers, veterinarians, medication and, of course, feed for the donkeys.

It was our first hot day of the season, so I was expecting unpleasant aromas and multitudes of over-friendly flies (and subsequently a chorus of my children complaining about both) at a place like that, but I was pleasantly surprised that neither presented an issue.

The heat was easily pacified by the Zooper Doopers for sale at the food tent, where you could also grab a snag from the sizzle, drinks, lollies and raffle tickets to further support the cause along with the $20 (per car load) entry fee.

As we walked up and down the laneways between the paddocks, friendly big-eared donkeys of all colours and sizes approached us for pats and scratches.

While similar in appearance to horses — but with shorter manes and statures, and tails more like cows’ — donkeys aren’t as fast (so you’ll never see them on the track at Flemington), but can carry heavy loads over rough terrain and are often used in farming for such.

Healthy donkeys can live into their 50s and the donkey shelter has a section especially for donkeys older than 35 years.

A look that’s hard to describe grew across my kids’ faces as they patted these calming creatures, from the young’uns to the oldies and the sweet little babies.

If an “awwwww” was a look, that was it. (Or maybe I should call it the look of an e-awwwww).

At one point my 12-yearold wrapped both his arms wholly around a donkey’s neck for a loving embrace, and neither appeared in a hurry for the moment to end.

He requested we take that donkey home and asked how he thought our dog might get along with it.

Well, for starters, it wouldn’t fit through the dog door and I’m not sure it would be comfortable in our pokey little suburban backyard.

I told him, instead of considering welcoming a donkey permanently into our family, we would just have to come back and visit on the open day each year.

But with the shelter looking to open its purpose-built farm stay accommodation shortly — where guests will be able to spend a night with the donkeys and help feed them in the morning — he might just get to return for a slumber party with his furry new besties a little sooner than that.