Epic . What a start to the day – an emergency call to rescue a donkey that was stuck up to its neck in a swamp. The call came from a young man called Carlo who is only fifteen but is a complete force and champion for animal welfare. He heads up a rescue charity of local youngsters which saves animals. I was absolutely amazed when I arrived. Carlo was submerged in the swamp with he donkey, his 12 year old brother was behind the wheel of a large digger and a friend of his was on the bank assisting as required. The defeated park ranger who had called them for help was a mere onlooker having failed to save the donkey. My assistance was simply to lend some muscle in getting it out, all the good work had already been done by Carlo whose quick thinking in keeping the donkeys head out of the water and mud, saved its life.

Once we had taken the donkey to a shelter and made sure it was okay, we headed off to a community clinic in the mountains. It was a fantastic afternoon with a few challenging cases; a collapsed calf which need a drip, a horse with a lacerated knee which I stitched and a few other bits and bobs. Agatha and her family were once again amazing because behind the scenes and unbeknownst to me and the team, she rescued two puppies which were found in a sack and also an injured bird. None of the those cases will make the programme because we didn’t know it was going on but it goes to show what tireless, caring people they are and how focused they are on helping animals. Agatha took the puppies back to her already full shelter where hopefully they will be adopted in the not too distant future.

What a great day. Exactly what it’s all about.