Source:  News Release/Amanda Gordon

Orphaned foal named Prince William

International animal welfare charity The Donkey Sanctuary has named its latest rescue, an orphaned foal, Prince William after its life has been saved by the charity’s experts.

The young foal arrived on Saturday 9th April 2011 at the Sidmouth headquarters of The Donkey Sanctuary. It has been named by the Founder Dr Elisabeth Svendsen to commemorate the wedding of HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Watch the video: Prince William's namesake at The Donkey Sanctuary

Amanda Gordon, PR Officer for the charity explains his story: “We came to the plight of this little foal just over a week ago having received a message from a fraught donkey owner in Litchfield, who didn’t have the time to care for a foal orphaned at birth.

“We are a charity that is equipped to deal with extreme cases like this and within 12 hours he was brought to our veterinary hospital for round the clock feeding and care.

“The first few days of the foal’s life were critical so he was monitored closely by our veterinary experts who bottle fed him every two hours, gave him plenty of warmth under our heat-lamps and carefully selected another donkey to pair up with him to keep him company. As the week progressed, he became stronger and brighter and was soon galloping around the paddock.

“He is now taking his milk every three hours from a bowl as we are keen to minimise his dependency on humans.”

Dr Elisabeth Svendsen, who named him Prince William, says: “The circumstances were terrible for this little foal and we are delighted to aid his recovery. We are asking visitors to the Sanctuary to respect the wishes of our veterinary staff and not to climb any barriers to touch him and risk his recovery.

“It’s a real honour to have Prince William with us and I can’t think of a better name for him, thus to mark the occasion of the Royal Wedding, we wish the couple the very best this Friday.”

The Donkey Sanctuary would like to acknowledge the help of Pool House Veterinary Hospital in Litchfield, Bushy Vets in Tetbury, and The Phillip Lever Hulme Equine Hospital in Liverpool who all played a vital role in Prince William’s rescue.

 Learn more about The Donkey Sanctuary here.