He is the fourth working donkey from Dolno Ossenovo retiring with us last year.

Georgi (or Goshko) is a 25-year-old handsome fellow from Dolno Ossenovo village. 

His people treat him like part of their family. He has done a lot of work for them and they want him to retire to a place where he will get the love and care he is used to. Last autumn we took him to the Valley.

Georgi lives in a small space that has good ventilation and is kept dry. These are important factors for donkeys’ wellbeing, and we are proud to have conveyed that to people.

Georgi has a really sweet disposition of character and is very calm. It is obvious he has been well looked after. His people tell us that they let him roam free when there isn’t work to do but he never strays for longer than a couple of days.

Time to make the journey to the trailer; a crunchy carot surely helps. 

This is often the hardest part, especially for a donkey that has known kindness and good care – embarking onto something new into the unknown.

Our vet always checks the donkey’s hooves carefully at this point since we expect a fair amount of pushing and pulling. We don’t want to cause any unnecessary discomfort to the animal that is already experiencing stress because of the change.

All hands on deck! Georgi is in. It’s an emotional goodbye but his people tell us they feel lighter knowing their Goshko is going to get a well-earned good life as a pensioner.

The journey goes well. A new chapter is about to start in Georgi's life.

Hundreds of working donkeys have retired to the Valley but the happiness we feel with each new addition remains fresh.

Goshko will stay in the first stables in the beginning for closer monitoring.

Petko wants to know what the newcomer has that he doesn’t have to make us all fawn over him.

We give Goshko some deworming medicine just in case. We do it as unobtrusively as possible.

We’ll do a full medical checkup soon. First, he needs some peace and quiet to settle in after the big change. Good food will help!

A couple of weeks later and Georgi is pard of the herd, healthy and adapting very well.

Welcome to the Valley, Goshko!