AN ANIMAL CHARITY has rescued a donkey after a video showing the poor animal being whipped through the streets of Dublin was put on social media.
My Lovely Horse Rescue said it was alerted to the disturbing video over the weekend, and stepped in to help as quickly as they could.
In the footage, a man can be seen mercilessly and repeatedly striking the donkey with a thick piece of rope, while parading it down the pavement in the Ballyfermot area of the capital.
The video was apparently part of promoting an online raffle for the animal.
A spokeswoman for My Lovely Horse Rescue revealed that this is the second time that callous handlers have attempted to raffle off the donkey, who they've since named 'Mac'.
"Raffled twice, sold god knows how many times, he has a cut on his leg and is traumatized!" The Charity wrote on Facebook.
"This is beyond cruel, we have been looking for this donkey since last week."
Once they caught wind of the raffle, volunteers jumped in their cars and frantically searched the area.
According to Dublin Live, when a volunteer named Jenny finally located the donkey, she watched it being dragged along a road before running out in front of a car, almost causing an accident.
"It's absolutely horrific, the sad thing is that it’s a common occurrence, it just happens that this one was recorded.
"We contacted the guards and they assisted us, and the donkey, now called Mac, is in the safety pf our rescue centre where he will be happy."
She spoke about the raffling of animals becoming more and more popular on Facebook.
"Basically they'll raffle a donkey, a horse or a dog and it's all based on the bonus ball in the lotto," she explained.
The donkey has now been taken into care by the charity and will begin what would undoubtedly be a lengthy rehabilitation process.
"He will be assessed by our vets to make sure everything is okay," Jenny said.
"He has a significant cut on his leg, he will be treated for worms and fleas.
"He'll remain in quarantine on the rescue for the next number of weeks in case he does have anything he could pass onto our residents. He will be slowly rehabilitated to begin to trust humans again, the guys will spend time with him at his pace.
"Donkeys are a companion animal, so we will look to introduce him to someone he bonds with, so he can have a little pal he can hang around the farm with."
