Got my eye on you: Shepparton’s Olivia Watson braved the heat for Sunday’s Tongala Donkey Shelter open day event, but was ensuring her fingers remained intact during a “patting’’ experience with a young donkey.
Girls’ day out: Olivia Wilson and her mother, Carly, were among the many visitors to the open day at the Tongala Donkey Shelter.
Hay bales and murals have put Tongala on the Victorian tourism map and now the new destination town can add a ‘Sleeping with the Donkeys’ experience to the growing list of attractions.
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The new experience is being offered at May Dodd’s Tongala Donkey Shelter on Mathieson Rd, home to more than 200 donkeys.
A significant bequest from an animal-loving stranger has allowed May and second-in-charge Jess Smeaton to plan for an overnight-stay experience with the adorable and often diminutive animals.
May has used the money left to the shelter to purchase a demountable cabin, which is only awaiting Campaspe Shire Council approval before it can be used as an important money-making device for the shelter.
“We will be using it as a bed ’n’ breakfast Sleep with the Donkeys experience and it can also be used as accommodation for students who work on the property,” she said.
The Mount Waverley man who chose the donkey shelter as one of three charities to benefit from his estate had not visited the property and was not known to May or any members of her team.
“I’ve had students working here for many years and they usually stay in my laundry, which means I can't do any washing,” May said.
“We were looking into alternatives that we could also use to generate funds. This answers both those things.”
May said the bequest came as “quite a nice surprise’’ and she would be naming the cabin after the man who gave her the money to buy it.
“We just had a phone call and were told the money would be paying for a building,” she said.
“He left it to three animal charities.”
The shelter held its annual open day last week, among its most important fund-raising efforts — alongside its donkey sponsorship program.
Finance management of the property is critical, and the $4000 expected to be raised from the open day is an important part of the budget.
Annual running costs of the shelter run into six figures a year, so the 800 subscribers to the donkey sponsorship program are essential to keeping the shelter operational.
Subscribers receive a certificate and regular updates through a newsletter for their $75 annual contribution.
The shelter has a constant flow of visitors — several disability services using it as a means of entertainment for clients.
May bought her first Tongala farm, around the corner in Watson Rd, in 2008 — relocating from Diamond Creek where she started the donkey shelter in 1997.
May was born in the United Kingdom and, having a pet donkey soon after her arrival in Australia in 1981, she was inspired to establish the shelter in 1997.
"I came to Tongala for two reasons, mainly because of the cost of hay and the land was cheap,’’ she said.
Holding a doctorate in psychiatry hasn’t helped a lot in managing a donkey farm, but with Jess Smeaton in support she has managed to successfully manage the 121-hectare operation.
She did admit the benefits of moving to Tongala for cheaper hay had been cancelled out by the cost of water in the Tongala irrigation area.
May said anyone interested in sponsoring a donkey could contact Jess on 0411 825056.
“It is quite nice as Christmas gift,” she said.
Trish, the oldest of the sponsor donkeys, now in her late teens, came to May’s property as a 15-month-old.
She is a youngster, however, when compared with the almost toothless senior of the donkey village, 45-year-old Nestor.
The farm continues to grow, taking on between 30 and 40 donkeys every year.
“Three weeks ago we had 13 or 14 arrive here,“ May said.
May said anyone interested in following events at the donkey shelter could do so at the Facebook page, Donkey Shelter Tongala, and more information was available by emailing the shelter at donkeyin@tpg.com.au
Part of the family: May Dodd’s donkey shelter was the recipient of a significant bequest, which will allow the farm to offer a Sleeping with the Donkeys experience at the Mathieson Rd property.
Girls meet Nestor: In Greek mythology, Nestor was a King of Pylos and escaped almost certain demise at the hand of Heracles. Wyuna East sisters Isla and Ellie Feldtmann, 5 and 2, met the shelter’s oldest donkey alongside Jess Smeaton. Jess has worked with the shelter for 20 years, at the Watson Rd property.
