Most of the donkeys who come to the Sathya Sai Sanctuary are elderly. Many are ex-working donkeys who have laboured for years bringing in the hay and the turf, carrying the milk churns to the creamery and even ploughing and harrowing the fields. Nowadays this work is done by tractors and other farm machinery.

They come to us from many sources: voluntary relinquishment when their owners can no longer care for them or have died; abandonment, when they are usually found loose on the road; or in cases of severe neglect or cruelty. The most common problems involve neglect of their hooves due to insufficient, inadequate and unprofessional trimming, plus keeping the animals in unsuitable conditions such as on wet, acid land with no recourse to somewhere dry.

Other common problems include skin disorders such as mud fever and rain scald due to living out, without shelter, in Ireland's wet climate. Whilst native ponies have waterproof coats, donkeys are indigenous to the hot, dry climates of Africa and Asia and have no waterproofing in their coats. They unquestionably require a dry shed for shelter.

Harness sores are rarely found these days but it is not uncommon to find a donkey or pony with rope burns or wounds on the face from having too tight a halter or headcollar left on permanently. On a young animal that is still growing this can prove disastrous.