It is an unusual summer wardrobe, but it is doing the job.
The Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon, is using donated trousers, leggings and pyjama bottoms to protect donkeys’ legs from insect bites over the summer months.
The charity said the items were loose-fitting and cut to fit individual donkeys, which can get through several pairs a week.
Lisa Coles from the sanctuary said: “Even though the legwear may look a bit unusual at first glance, it really does make a difference to their welfare.”
Coles said about 40 donkeys were wearing the garments and urged people to donate any unwanted items.
She said the sanctuary used to put socks on the donkey’s legs to protect them but found they “kept falling down” so searched for “something that could cover the whole length of the leg”.
She said insect bites were a “really big problem” and sprays and creams “don’t last long enough or offer round the clock protection”.
“It really does help, but some of them look a bit funny,” Coles said.
She added the clothes help “flap the flies away and the donkey’s don’t mind it” so it was “a good solution to a problem”.
The charity has appealed for unwanted loose-fitting trousers, leggings, pyjamas or maternity trousers in women’s size 16 and up, and men’s size large and up, so they would fit all its donkeys.
The sanctuary said it recently received a large donation from staff and students at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Coles said: “We want to look after the environment.
“It kind of works on every level, we recycling things that would have been thrown away and it’s stuff charity shops can’t sell.”
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