In a delightful and kind Christmas story, a pair of British travelers found ‘room at the inn’ for a dying donkey who then gave birth to a foal after receiving treatment.
Sue and Andy Toach were due to escape the cold of England with a winter vacation out in Boa Vista, Cape Verde. As it happened, Sue spotted a post on their hotel’s Facebook page about a dying donkey found stranded on the beach.
Animal lovers both, the Toachs purchased some supplies to take in a bid to save the skeletal and sick donkey—named Bella-Riu—from death.
On arrival, Sue teamed up with other hotel guests and local tour guides to find a veterinarian who might be able to treat Bella. They then managed to find a home for her at a local riding center and, just days later, Bella gave birth in the stable when nobody had even known she was pregnant.
“When Bella was found, she was very skinny, her hips and ribs were visible, her coat was matted and she was covered in parasites,” Sue told the British media outlet SWNS. “When I got there I was grooming her twice a day, and would sit and talk to her after I gave her twice-daily medicine.”
“The local tour guides came back to us the next day and said they had found a man, Sidnei, who could take Bella,” she said. Arrangements were made, and once in the stable it didn’t take long for Bella to get settled in her new, temporary home; she even made friends with one of his horses—who had been a fellow rescue.
Sue and Andy were due to fly home when she got a call from the tour guide Lindsay saying Bella had given birth overnight.
Sue had suspected Bella might be pregnant but vets weren’t able to bring her in to be scanned, so nobody knew for sure.
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Now fast-recovering Bella and her surprise son named Spaghetti live happily in their new home.
“I left before I got to meet Spaghetti, but we’ve promised to go back—we want Bella and Spaghetti to have a fantastic life there,” said the inspired Sue, who, along with the other guests, have started a GoFundMe to raise money for the rest of Bella’s treatment.
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And Sue has vowed to return next year so she can see Bella again and meet Spaghetti for the first time.
“Now we’re hoping to raise money to help Sidnei with their care and veterinary bills, so we can still help from back at home. Sidnei said he might be able to take more rescues on too, so we’re hoping the money can go towards that as well.”
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