It’s not every day that one gets to see miniature donkeys.
But for the residents of Cobram’s Irving House, Friday, January 19, saw them interact with Pedro and Diego, two miniature donkeys owned by local Jean Arnold.
Pedro is a micro-miniature Mediterranean donkey, and Diego is a miniature donkey.
Ms Arnold has trained the two donkeys as therapy animals and, with her friend Kylie Johnson, has been taking them to nursing homes in Cobram so the residents can interact with them.
“They (the residents) can brush them, pat them and interact with them,” she said.
Occasionally, residents will visit Ms Arnold’s property to visit the two animals there, along with the rest of her animals.
The residents at Irving House were thrilled with the Friday visit, which wasn’t the first, with resident Jeanette Lucas saying the two donkeys were a delight.
“They are beautiful and playful and well-behaved,” she said.
“I enjoy when they come out.”
Irving House diversional therapist Cassandra Martin said the donkeys brightened the residents’ day whenever they visited.
“They (the residents) have big smiles on their faces,” she said.
“A lot of the residents don’t get out very often. So it’s nice to be able to have someone like Jean bring her donkeys in to visit us.”
Ms Arnold concurred, saying that the residents loved seeing the donkeys.
“It’s great,” she said.
“The residents absolutely love the donkeys.
“Occasionally, they come home as well, and they bring a busload of residents out, and we do morning tea. After morning tea, we bring donkeys out.”
Ms Arnold said she believed the visits provided a break from routine for many of the residents, and the donkeys allowed them to reconnect to earlier years.
“I feel that a lot of the elderly may have had pets before entering the nursing home, and it’s just nice for them to interact with animals,” she said.
“Some of the gentlemen who come out to the property have been farmers in their younger days.”
It is not only aged care residents seeing the donkeys, with Shepparton Family Care IntoRec Disability Services recently taking five kids to Ms Arnold’s property.
According to Ms Arnold, the children, some of whom were non-verbal, loved the donkeys.
“They came out and had morning tea, brushed the donkeys, brought carrots for the ponies,” she said.
Ms Arnold said she would continue to visit the aged care homes with the donkeys and invite the residents to her property once a month.