The Donkey Sanctuary is an international animal welfare organisation, offering care and protection to donkeys worldwide. Our vision is a world where every donkey has a good quality of life, and our mission is to improve the lives of donkeys every day. We will achieve this by transforming the lives of donkeys in need worldwide by fostering greater understanding, collaboration and support, and by promoting lasting, mutually life-enhancing relationships.
We have an excellent opportunity for a flexible and proactive team player with a passion for Donkeys to join our busy team at Trow and Hurford farms, Sidmouth, Devon. Possessing substantial equine and animal husbandry experience, you will provide care and rehabilitation for the resident donkeys, mules and hinnies, and support the Farm Manager in maintaining a safe working environment.
About you:
Excellent animal observational skills and able to detect signs of illness, distress, or change in behaviour.
Demonstrable alignment with the charity's values and committed to ongoing personal development within the role.
Effective communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively within a team.
Able to carry out physically demanding tasks, independently, in all weather conditions, occasionally outside of normal working hours.
Competent IT knowledge and skills.
Competent use of English language.
Full, valid UK driving licence.
About the role:
Your principal duties and responsibilities will include -
Routinely checking, feeding, medicating, grooming, weighing, worming and training the resident donkeys.
Assisting visiting vets, farriers and dentists.
Operating machinery, and/or manually, mucking out, feeding and bedding up of barns and stables and distributing hay, haylage and bagged feedstuffs.
Maintaining the farm by sweeping, pressure washing, cleaning, field sweeping, haymaking, strimming, compost management, willow management and dirty water control.
Maintaining up to date manual records for the donkeys, farming practices, holidays and overtime.
Providing feedback on a daily basis to the Farm Manager and Supervisor on matters such as donkey health, feeding regimes and land management and liaising with other staff to facilitate smooth running of the farm.
What we offer in return:
This is a full-time, permanent contract starting as soon as possible, working 37.5 hours per week., 5 days over 7 with weekend work as part of a team rota.
Benefits:
Competitive pension.
Life Assurance.
31 Days holiday (including Bank holidays), rising to 34 with each full year of service.
Wellbeing Team.
Recorded Pilates classes.
Long Service Awards.
Healthshield Plan, including reimbursement of some medical expenses up to the specified limits per membership, offers, discounts and cashback on shopping, travel and entertainment from participating outlets and access to a 24/7 GP and counselling service.
Free Parking.
Subsidised restaurant and shop at The Donkey Sanctuary main site.
Closing date for applications: Tuesday 11 August 2026.
The Donkey Sanctuary is a Disability Confident Employer.
The Donkey Sanctuary is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable people (children and adults), and expects all staff and volunteers to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to safer recruitment processes, including an application for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check where required for the post.
The Donkey Sanctuary also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and, for relevant posts, may request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.
Please note: The Guaranteed interview scheme is only applicable to candidates who consider themselves to have a disability applying for roles based within the United Kingdom.
NOTE TO APPLICANTS: We look forward to receiving your application, but we do ask you to complete this in your own words, and not to employ an Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tool or assistant. Applications that are considered not to be an applicant’s own work may not be shortlisted for interview.
Before submitting your application, please ensure you read our candidate journey page, in particular our FAQs section – https://jobs.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/jobs/candidate-journey/
