Let them eat all the snacks! A donkey’s charm is almost impossible to deny…
Roodepoort, Johannesburg (26 September 2025) – Rest Ur Ass, a donkey sanctuary based in Johannesburg, has cared for hundreds of donkeys since its inception in 2017. To raise funds for their good work, the sanctuary often hosts market days.
Local vendors show up for the occasion, and it’s a great family outing where animal lovers can enjoy some donkey cuddles and snackable goodies – pizza, coffee, jams, veggies. Rumour has it, you’ll find the best koeksisters there too.
On Heritage Day, the sanctuary hosted a market and as usual, the main stars of the show were the adorable donkeys that they care for. Adorable, but naughty!
Donkeys at the market are let free to roam and enjoy the day amongst guests. Videos doing the rounds on social media show two of the rescues, Black Jack and Patricia, helping themselves (and finishing) sample snacks from a vendor. They polish a plate clean.
Commenters who visited the market later outed the donkeys for eating their way through another vendor’s vegetables, midway through a demonstration for peeling knives!
The sanctuary’s founder jokes that she’ll arm them with some spending money next time.
It’s no bother, really, as vendors who attend these markets all love donkeys. Who couldn’t? In fact, just being around them is good for us.
“Research has shown that a donkey’s heart rhythm can synchronize with, and even influence those of a human, when they interact. Because these heart rhythms reflect how we’re feeling, a donkey’s calming mood can reduce a person’s anxiety. The limbic system, the part of a donkey’s brain associated with emotion, behaviour, motivation and memory, is the same size as that of a human,” says the RUA Sanctuary.
No wonder we’re all giddy watching them gobble up our food!
In all seriousness, the work that RUA does is compassionate and so needed. It all started when RUA’s founders, Lloreen and Albert, were driving through a rural area in 2016 and witnessed the abuse some donkeys in South Africa were suffering. With over 44 million donkeys worldwide, many more are subjected to neglect and abuse, often overworked and not cared for.
As an animal lover, seeing this upset Lloreen. It was then that her dream of opening a sanctuary for abused donkeys first sprouted. Today, over eight years later, they care for 240 donkeys!
If you’d like to find out more about the sanctuary and their market days, you can give them a follow here.
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