Farm Worker/Groom

Overview

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. Globally, we support projects in countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, transforming lives through direct care, community training, collaborative partnerships and advocacy work to improve the way donkeys are treated.

We are seeking a person with a passion for Donkeys to join our centre in Sala Biellese, Italy. 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

• Previous animal husbandry experience.
• Physical fitness (the ability to lift, for example, a bag of feed approx.: (females) 15 kg, and (males) 20 kg)
• Willing to undertake work related training as required.
• Full, current valid driving licence.

Your main duties and responsibilities

• Providing care by routine checking, feeding, medicating, grooming, weighing, worming and training the resident donkeys, mules, ponies and hinnies and assisting the vet, farrier and dentist as required.
• Providing feedback on a daily basis to the Farm Manager on matters such as donkey health, feeding regimes and land management, and liaising with other staff to facilitate smooth running of the farm.
• 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, trimming, compost management, willow management and dirty water control.
• Maintaining up to date manual records for the donkeys and farming practices.
• Acting as an ambassador for the Charity by acquiring a good knowledge of Il Rifugio degli Asinelli El Refugio del Burrito and the work of the Charity worldwide to positively engage with visitors and members of the public by providing appropriate and accurate information to enhance visitor experience.

If you feel you have the skills and experience to fulfil this varied and rewarding role, we would love to hear from you. Based at our centre in Sala Biellese, deep in the green woodland of the Serra hills in North Piedmont - this is a full-time, fixed term contract starting as soon as possible until 15 December 2025, working 40 hours per week, including weekend work as part of a rota.

Closing date for completed applications: Monday 29September 2025.

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.