A DONKEY has been rescued by Gardaí and an animal charity after it was found being attacked and beaten by 'up to 20 youths' in a city suburb.
Followers of dedicated animal charity Limerick Animal Welfare were in shock and horror yesterday evening as a story began to unfold of a gentle creature being mercilessly attacked by a group of children.
The charity's Facebook page, which provides daily updates of their animals, assists in finding missing dogs and shares reports of sad abuse, yesterday announced that they had received a worrying report of a donkey being "tortured by 20 youths".
The Gardaí were called to the scene, with one whistleblower stating that there were "three of them on his back... while others repeatedly hit and kick him".
The writer of the post went on to say they believed something had been "shoved up his nostril" as one youth was holding the donkey's face "and all of a sudden he bolted and was screaming".
The charity and Gardaí reacted quickly and arrived on the scene within minutes, with reports indicating that the youths scattered once authority figures arrived to rescue the donkey.
Limerick Animal Welfare continued to update their followers with photographs and videos as they brought the shaken animal to safety.
The charity thanked local Gardaí for their assistance in the matter, and took the as-yet unnamed donkey to the sanctuary where he could begin to be treated with much-needed love and care.
While the donkey is now safe, with Limerick Animal Welfare sharing a photograph of him relaxing in his new stable under the watchful eye of a curious cat, it is uncertain who the donkey originally belonged to or if the perpetrators have been tracked down.
The sad case of animal abuse echoes another which took place in Limerick last month, where the charity and Gardaí had to come to the rescue of a young dog-- now called Emma-- who was also reportedly being attacked by a gang of youths.
Emma suffered terrible injuries from the attack, including a broken jaw, but after a few weeks under the care of L.A.W., she is coming on in leaps and bounds and appears to be a happy, affectionate pup.
Hopefully there will be a similar positive update on the little donkey.
To keep up with Limerick Animal Welfare's work, to donate or to find out more, you can visit their Facebook page here.
