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Rupert The Donkey Set For Homecoming After 'Strong Recovery'

The Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary's Rupert is set to make his journey home later, a week to the day since Islanders rallied around the poorly donkey.

Staff at the centre say Rupert has continued to make a 'strong recovery' at the Liphook Equine Hospital.

They say, providing there are no last-minute hitches, he is safe to travel home today (Monday).

A statement from the sanctuary reads:

"He has had a weekend of ‘solid‘ food and his digestive system has worked perfectly, obviously having recovered from the trauma of his serious colic last Monday...

"Wightlink have very kindly given Rupert a free crossing back over the Solent, so that we don’t have any of the traumas that accompanied his journey to the mainland last week.

"On behalf of everybody at the sanctuary, we would once again like to thank the whole island community for their support last Monday, to get this sick donkey to hospital. The collective spirit, the kindness and the determination to succeed were just amazing. When Rupert is home, he will certainly be thanking some very specific people for their huge efforts on his behalf.

"Thank you to the whole Wightlink team for their support."

It was around this time last week that the sanctuary issued an urgent appeal, pleading with one of the cross-Solent operators to take him to the mainland.

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