Donkey therapy works wonders for traumatised and exhausted medics

Donkey therapy at the El Burrito Feliz (The Happy Little Donkey) association is helping to ease Spain medics’ stress. — AFP

The Doctor Donkey project began in late June as a way of offering respite to frontline workers battling a virus that has infected more than 41 million people worldwide, killed some 1.14 million, and left medics traumatised and exhausted.

Walking into a dusty paddock, a young nurse is quickly surrounded by a group of donkeys gently nudging her for attention as she strokes their soft noses and feeds them carrots. When someone places a 10-day-old colt in her arms, Monica Morales squeals with delight, visibly relaxed after a few hours unwinding at El Burrito Feliz – “The Happy Little Donkey” – an association offering free donkey therapy sessions to medics fighting the virus. Known as animal-assisted therapy, such encounters can help with a range of physical and mental disorders, including stress, depression and anxiety.