Karoo Donkey Sanctuary began with four rescued donkeys and a simple belief: that every animal deserves to live with safety, dignity and compassion. Our journey started on a small 17-hectare property near Prince Albert, with four donkeys who came to us through the Karoo Animal Protection Society. There was no grand plan to build one of Africa's largest equine sanctuaries, just a growing understanding of how vulnerable donkeys could be, and a deeper awareness of the neglect and cruelty they faced across Southern Africa. Then, in 2017, everything changed.

The first horses arrived at KDS as part of the extraordinary 2017 rescue, and others joined them in the years that followed. During this period, more than 180 donkeys were successfully rehomed into carefully selected homes, while those who remained became the foundation of our permanent sanctuary herd. Our philosophy evolved with them. We do not breed donkeys, and all stallions accepted into our care are gelded. Every animal who becomes part of our permanent herd receives the same lifelong commitment to safety, dignity and care.

Today, Karoo Donkey Sanctuary is one of Africa's largest equine sanctuaries and the continent's only equine sanctuary verified by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. But our responsibility extends far beyond the animals already safe within our care. We investigate and expose cruelty, confront those who profit from the suffering of donkeys, challenge failures in enforcement and hold decision-makers to account. We advocate relentlessly for stronger legal protection and campaign for an end to the commercial donkey skin trade, both in South Africa and across the continent. KDS is a place where damaged lives are given safety, dignity and another chance. It is also a powerful voice for the countless animals we cannot bring into sanctuary, but will never abandon to silence.

KDS does not rehome animals accepted into our permanent sanctuary herd. Our website adoption programme is a symbolic sponsorship programme through which supporters can help fund their ongoing care. Donkeys and horses form enduring bonds, and we do not believe rescue should mean repeatedly uprooting them once they have found safety. Our permanent residents are not waiting for another home. They are home. Many animals arrive having spent their lives valued only for what humans could take from them. Sanctuary turns that relationship around. We do not ask what they can give us; we ask what we can give them: safety, dignity, choice, companionship and care.

In February 2024, the African Union adopted a 15-year moratorium on commercial donkey slaughter for skins and the trade that drives it. South Africa has not followed suit. Commercial slaughter remains legal here, permitted under what's been described as a "controlled export model" allowing up to 10,500 donkey skins to be exported each year. We believe serious questions remain about how this is monitored and enforced, including how slaughter numbers are verified and export permits scrutinised. A regulated framework must never become cover for cruelty or unlawful trade.

At Karoo Donkey Sanctuary, rescue and lifelong care go hand in hand with investigation and advocacy. We document cruelty, support efforts to expose unlawful activity, and engage with authorities to demand accountability. Our founder, Jonno Sherwin, has taken part in undercover investigations into the trade, witnessing its consequences first-hand.

We call on South Africa to implement the continental moratorium, end commercial slaughter for the skin trade, and strengthen action against theft, trafficking and illegal killing. Every donkey deserves protection and dignity, and protecting their lives also protects the communities that depend on them.

We cannot save every animal. But for every animal who comes into our care, we make a promise: safety, dignity, choice, companionship and care. A promise for life. Four donkeys started our story, and every life since has given us another reason to continue it.