Almaty residents unite to rescue donkey — video
Posts on social media
The day before, social media users began sharing footage of the donkey walking around the city. One of the first people to spot it was an Almaty resident near Republic Square at around 11 a.m.
Screenshot: Threads
Judging by social media posts, the donkey had already been roaming the streets of Almaty for several days. In one post, the author asked for help finding its owner:“Attention, Almaty! A donkey is lost! Yesterday, from 10:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., this cute donkey was wandering unattended near 31 Tole Bi Street. If you have any information, please help find the owner!”Screenshot: Threads
Posts and videos from eyewitnesses who spotted the donkey received tens of thousands of views.
“He’s looking for Shrek.”“No one has picked up the donkey yet, and there is a risk that it could end up on the road.”“Does anyone know who we can call to have it taken somewhere safe?”“We urgently need to find a safe place for it before it goes onto the road.”“Can anyone provide temporary shelter? The animal cannot be left on the street.”“Maybe it ran away from people who were exploiting it? Someone with a private home, please take it in.”
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Post by Tengri Almaty (@tengri.almaty)
Rescue story
The donkey was eventually rescued. Almaty resident Yelena Streltsova shared the story.
According to her, the day before, her husband filmed the donkey at the intersection of Zenkov and Vinogradov streets.
“When I got there, the animal was already at the intersection of Bogenbay Batyr and Kaldayakov streets. From there, we led it into a courtyard and brought it to the front garden of a house on Kaldayakov Street,” she said.
After that, she and her husband spent around four hours caring for the animal and calling private shelters. One shelter was already rescuing another donkey at the time and could not take in another one. Eventually, they managed to find help elsewhere.
“I wrote to every possible shelter and called recreation centers, but without success. Four hours passed like that. One woman agreed to foster him temporarily, and we started looking for a way to transport him. At that moment, Yevgeniya from the ZooHome shelter called me and said she was ready to take the donkey,” she said.
Yelena also tried calling emergency services 112, 109 and 102, but according to her, they were unable to help.
She urged residents to take situations like this more seriously. According to her, the animal could have been in danger without people’s assistance.
“A tragedy could have happened: a traffic accident, or he could have kicked someone. When my husband sent me the video, I immediately understood that the donkey needed to be rescued, not just filmed for social media,” she said.
Where the donkey is now
We contacted shelter manager Nikolai Kovalev. He confirmed that the donkey is currently staying there. After spending several days on the streets of Almaty, the animal remains somewhat wary.
Overall, however, the donkey is doing well.
Shnurok the donkey at the shelter. Photo: Nikolai Kovalev
According to him, the animal will remain at the shelter. It has already been given the name Shnurok. It now lives alongside a ram named Byasha, a goat named Sultan, goats named Dashka, Zezya, Ilona and Kiara, two geese, a duck, a turkey and around 500 dogs.