July 18, 2024, 4:52 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Being called a “donkey” is probably not a compliment for most people. Not so for national team player Kai Havertz, who has even dedicated his own foundation to these animals.
Ever since the German national soccer team’s opening victory, Germany has once again been in soccer fever, with the individual stars taking center stage. This includes Kai Havertz, who is often called “donkey” by his teammates because of his love of animals, with him even naming a donkey after Antonio Rüdiger. At the sanctuary he supports, people are eagerly betting on the outcome of the European Championship matches.
Kai Havertz’s first donkey was named Toni, after ‘Rüdiger’
Back in 2023, Havertz spoke to the British newspaper The Guardian about how his love of donkeys came about. Not only did some of his teammates at London soccer club Chelsea call him “donkey” at the time. He even named a donkey in a sponsorship program after his teammate on the German national team, Antonio ‘Toni’ Rüdiger.
But the love of donkeys goes way back to the soccer star’s childhood. In an interview with The Guardian, Havertz explained that he has always loved donkeys. For his 18th birthday, he received sponsorships for three of the animals as a gift. After the flood disaster in the Ahr valley in 2021, he finally came up with the idea of a foundation in his name that would not only stand for animal welfare, but also for youth development and care for the elderly.
Animal welfare is a ‘matter close to the heart’ of Kai Havertz
The Kai Havertz Foundation website states: “The topic of animal welfare and the rescue of animals that have not been able to experience species-appropriate care in their previous lives is […] a matter close to my heart.”
There are still many misconceptions about how to keep donkeys in a species-appropriate manner. If the stoic desert animals are left on unsuitable pasture for too long, there can be serious consequences for them.
And this is where the Zons Donkey Park, which is supported by the national player’s foundation, comes in. “Since 2006, Peter and Darinka Norff have mainly been looking after donkeys in need. In particular, they take in donkeys that have been kept inappropriately, or they rescue them from slaughterhouses,” says the foundation’s website.
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The sanctuary is actively predicting the outcomes of the German games
According to the donkey park’s website, 20 donkeys live at the sanctuary, which has been privately run since 2006. There are now also sheep, chickens, and the pigs Karla and Boris.
And an animal oracle for the European Championships (a donkey, of course) is also predicting the outcomes of the German national team’s matches, as reported by the Neuß-Grevenbroicher Zeitung newspaper. This marks the second occasion where Milan the donkey has used straw to show his support and predict a victory for the German national team.
Editor’s note: The Kai Havertz Foundation and the Zons Donkey Park did not respond to PETBOOK’s request for comment by the editorial deadline.