On May 29 & 30, our equine dental technician Alkis Gkeskos and our farrier Vaios Bakratsas made a two-day visit in eastern Crete, in order to offer their much needed practical services to 34 equines in the two donkey shelters that care for the abandoned and unwanted, usually elderly donkeys.

As every year, our team visited the Agia Marina Donkey Rescue in Petrokefali. There, Fanis and Barbara with the help of their children and grandchildren, still keep and improve their installations where 26 elderly donkeys currently find shelter. Despite the heat, all animals responded well to dental and farriery examinations and treatments. Besides the sharp edges, Alkis found few serious problems compared to previous years. In one donkey, a cheek tooth was quite loose causing discomfort at chewing and was easily removed bringing relief to the donkey. Another donkey had big ramps and an overgrown tooth which required careful floating with the motorized dental equipment. And a broken part of the tooth,  that had been stuck in another donkey’s mouth between two teeth, was removed bringing comfort to the animal. Vaios trimmed all donkeys’ feet while taking special care of three animals’ long hooves, bringing them back to normal shape. Several hooves with white line disease and chronic laminitis were treated. Almost all donkeys had a good body condition score and expressed healthy behaviours. At the end of the day, the friendly couple offered lunch to our team. They also gave Vaios and Alkis local products as gifts to take back home.  It’s always a pleasure to meet these people and we appreciate and learn a lot from the conversations we have with them.