Sunshine Sanctuary for Sick Dragons: Difference between revisions
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That is, for swamp dragons, which are almost permanently sick because they can rearrange their "internal plumbing" to adjust their digestion as appropriate for whatever food they are eating (and they eat almost anything that's combustible). It's just too difficult a biological process, and no matter how they try to adjust, the dragons find themselves ill. The Sunshine Sanctuary was established by the famous swamp dragon breeder, Lady Sybil Ramkin in Ankh-Morpork. The Sanctuary is run by Rosie Devant-Molei with a volunteer staff of upper-class young ladies (Samuel Vimes calls them interchangeable Emmas) who are interested in swamp dragons. The Sanctuary also buys dragons from owners considered to be mistreating the dragons, and takes in former pet dragons that are now abandoned. They end up in pens in the Sanctuary, where the staff try to give the dragons dietary supplements to bring their digestion to a safer level. This does not always work, so dragons occasionally explode. The Sanctuary is built with thick walls and very light roof, a peculiarity usually found in firework factories.
The Sunshine Sanctuary for Sick Dragons plays an important role in:
and has made appearances in other books of the Watch Series. It has also appeared in The Last Hero, where some dragons were "borrowed" from the sanctuary to power a space-flight contraption. Lord Vetinari warned the passengers that if the dragons were not returned safely, then "he would be in serious trouble [from the Sanctuary]". This suggests that the sanctuary staff may have a formidable wrath even to the powerful Tyrant. The dragons' fates were unknown.