Sanctuary in Israel cares for biblical beasts of burden -- donkeys

Published: 2005-12-05

MOSHAV GAN YOSHIYA, Israel (CNS) -- Trudging along behind wooden carts or carrying peasant farmers and produce on their backs, donkeys are as ubiquitous to the panorama of the Holy Land as the olive orchards, agricultural terraces and rocky landscape that have been part of this area extending back to the days of the Bible. Though rarely given more than a second thought, these beasts of burden have been the favored mode of transportation here since biblical times, and still are in many rural areas. Mentioned more than 130 times in the Bible, donkeys are present in most Nativity scene representations, olive wood carvings and European paintings of the Holy Family's flight into Egypt. Despite the romanticized vision of donkeys in the Christmas story, the lives of many donkeys in the Holy Land today are far from idyllic, said Lucy Fensom, founder and director of Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land, where she and her husband care for 92 donkeys and two aging horses.

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