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Tragedy At Isle Of Wight Donkey Sanctuary After "Freak Accident"

The Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary has temporarily removed all collars from its donkeys after a "freak accident" led to the death of a much-loved jenny.

Lewi, who has been at the Wroxall sanctuary since 2021, died in the early hours of Saturday morning (24) after her collar became entangled in the latch of a gate.

Staff say their donkeys have been wearing collars since 2013 and this is the first time anything like this has happened.

It's assumed Lewi was scratching at the time of her death.

A statement from the Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary reads:

"It is a terrible tragedy, and we are determined to make sure it can’t ever happen again.

"In response to this accident, we have temporarily removed collars from all the donkeys. We have identified additional safety measures that we can make to the collars, and they will be thoroughly tested until we are completely confident that this kind of incident can never happen again. Similarly, as part of our ongoing investigation, we are checking all the latches on all the gates across the farm.

"Words cannot explain the shock and distress that the team are feeling at the present time, especially after a difficult few weeks, having lost three donkeys through natural causes.

"We are very open with the public about everything we do here, and we will keep people informed about the steps we are taking, to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again."

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