After three decades of a perfect life in Switzerland, Ljubisa returns to Serbia: He has a special mission in his birth village (PHOTO)

Ljubisa combined breeding donkeys and countryside tourism

After 31 years of working in Switzerland, Ljubisa returns to Serbia in order to breathe old glory into an animal

This is not New Zealand nor the rainforests of Amazon... This is a hidden treasure of Serbia, and it's just 3 hours away from Belgrade! (PHOTO)

Ljubisa Petrovic, from the village Bobovo near Svilajnac, after 31 years of working in Switzerland, returned to Serbia to open the donkey farm.

Foto: Marija Raca

He says that he believes that the purpose of his life is to save an animal which is near extinction on the farms and to remind people that the donkey is a really respected animal in the Christian religion. It was by Jesus it's entire life, and it gives milk which is actually medicine.

Foto: Marija Raca

- That is the animal which "carries" a cross on its back if you know what it looks like. The pattern on the back looks like a cross. This creature was called stubborn and stupid, just because people couldn't make it do what they wanted it to. That is the creature which was used to pull things, and people forgot that the milk is the medicine which costs 50 euros, and up to 120 liters in Europe - explains Petrovic. 

Foto: Marija Raca

BIBLICAL REASONS 

Donkey is one of the two animals which are "speaking" in the Bible. It was there for the birth of the Crist with an ox. Christ entered Jerusalem on a donkey and he was welcomed as a messiah. The donkey was sad when he saw Christ on the cross, and he turned his back in order not to look at it. The shadow of the cross fell on the shoulders and the back of the animal. That is the mark that every donkey wears now, reminds Ljubisa. 

Foto: Marija Raca

He said that he had a goat and a sheep in his youth, but he never had a donkey, which he wanted the most. And now, for his 50th birthday, he got a donkey from a friend who knew him well. One year later, he left Switzerland, where he has been working for 31 years, and he returns to Bobovo in 2018, where he opened an unusual farm.

LOVE FOR DONKEYS

Foto: Marija Raca

- That first donkey is Cvetko, and I "married" him with three girl donkeys. Now, there are 10 of them, and Cvetko has 8 girlfriends and one daughter. Each of them has a name, Divna, Juna, Milica, Petrojka, Cupka, Lepa... I am making a nursery for all of those girls. My farm, which I named "At the white gate" will be the place where children will be able to ride and to place with the donkeys, the older people to get to know them, or just to sit in the park and to have a drink or to eat something in the restaurant.

- I want people to get to know these animals - said Ljubisa.

Foto: Marija Raca

This man reminds of a farmer a little bit, he seems more as a man who has unusual pets. He hugs them, kisses them, plays with them. Ljubisa plans to have at least 100 donkeys on the farm, perhaps even 200 someday, the time will tell.

- I was a driver in Switzerland, I will be a farmer and a caterer here. I will enjoy the donkey Zoo, and I will live from selling milk. From 10 donkeys that I have right now, only one of them gives milk, and around 300 to 400 grams a day. That is why I need to have more of them. They don't give much milk, but the little they do is medicine. One litter in Serbia costs around 50 euros, but you drink just a little a day, as a medicine - said Ljubisa.

Foto: Marija Raca

MILK AS MEDICINE 

Donkey milk is very appraised and it was drunk in the past. It is among the most expensive kinds of Milk today, it has 60 times more vitamin C than cow milk, and it is closest to human milk, or the mother's milk. Due to the high level of enzymes, donkey milk is considered to be a natural antibiotic, and as such, it is recommended for bacterial infections in the organism, for poisoning, or for treatment of skin diseases. It is recommended for patients that are undergoing chemotherapy, with lung diseases, asthma, bronchitis, or dry caught.

Ljubisa Petrovic is trying to explain why he loves donkeys so much and why does he have the feeling as if the God has intended him to care about these animals, but he lacks in words.

MISSION 

Foto: Marija Raca

- I have a great need to return the glory to the donkey which it had from the start of Christianity, to tell everyone that it was such an injustice that it was used only to pull things, and then forgotten the moment when the machines replaced it. I want to show people who come to my farm that petting a donkey draws the negative energy out of you and it calms you down.

Foto: Marija Raca

And they can conclude on their own what is the donkey milk when they see how many young children die from the hardest diseases - said Ljubisa Petrovic.

And that is why, at the age of 56, he returned to Bobovo and he started his animal mission. His wife and two adult children still live in Switzerland.

VIDEO: This is the distant relative of a donkey 

(Telegraf.co.uk / M. R.)