It looks like a daily soap series, the vlogs of the donkey farm in Baarle-Nassau steal the hearts of thousands of animal lovers. The donkey shelter consists of 55 donkeys with all its own story and character. Every morning, 365 days a year, Peter-Paul provides a fresh episode: “The donkeys deserve this.” And the fans drive for hours to come and look at the donkeys.
Every morning at a quarter past seven there is a new video on the social media pages of the donkey farm. They have 33,000 followers on Facebook. A large part is ready every morning to look at the new adventures of the donkeys. More than a thousand responses have been written within a few hours.
“Every donkey is unique, every donkey has its own story.”
Peter-Paul van den Berg, together with his wife, is the driving force behind Stichting de Ezelshoeve. Twenty years ago they started after they got angry about a story about donkeys that were for sale for a hundred euros.
“We have received 550 donkeys in twenty years. We currently have 55,” says Peter-Paul, hugging one of his donkeys. “Every donkey is unique, every donkey has its own story.” There are donkeys with COPD, Cushing and malnutrition disease.
“Hey Michaël”, Peter-Paul shouts when he stands at the brown 11-year-old donkey. “Michaël came in here for a sail on a sail. A day later here and he had not been there anymore. We have been busy with him for months and you should see what a big guy he is now.”
“The videos are addictive.”
“Here are Leo, Asna and Ricky. Hey Paultje. I can talk to the animals,” says Peter-Paul with a smile. “A donkey is a hug. A donkey asks and seeks contact. They need human contact. If you only put a donkey in the meadow, that is a form of neglect.”
The donkeys are now ‘world famous’. They are doing well on social media. “We do storytelling. We are very authentic. What you see, is what you get. Donkeys have humor, donkeys are fun, “says Peter-Paul.
Every morning there is a video on X, Facebook and Instagram, 365 days a year. “The videos are addictive, there are people who put the alarm at a quarter past seven to miss nothing. And when they come here, they all know the donkeys too.”
Peter-Paul continues: “Every donkey deserves his story. People see it as a soap. You are really involved in daily life. We make simple images a nice story.”
“They are never angry and they laugh at you.”
Luc Van Ransbeeck from Lebbeke, Belgium, is one of the thousands of fans. He drives back and forth from Belgium for two hours every two weeks to come and help. “I got to know the donkeys through my wife. I have been watching the videos for more than a year now and we like to see every morning. I write a text and see what other people have to say about it.”
“It’s about care and donkeys that run after each other, it’s something different every day. The only problem: we have trouble remembering the names,” laughs Luc while he is cleaning a loft. Why that love for the donkeys? “They are never angry, they laugh at you, they look at you, they walk, they play and poop. That is nice.”
“I make sure the donkeys are doing well, the donkeys make sure I am right.”
The last adventure in the daily ‘soap’: the donkey farm will expand. “We were one hectare and three hectares since yesterday. We have been working on that for a long time. Our neighbor is a farmer and he doesn’t just sell his country.” But he retired and the foundation was allowed to buy the country. “Growing is not the goal. But if ten donkeys suddenly come in, then the space is there.”
Peter-Paul and his wife want to take a step back in ten years. The foundation must then be on its own. Saying goodbye will never really happen. “I really love the donkeys. I make sure the donkeys are doing well, the donkeys make sure I am right.”
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