Because I like to keep our blog focused on happy things, I have agonized for weeks over whether I should write about this or not. I finally decided that I need to.
This is a roping donkey. As is the case in West Texas, donkeys are popular here in some circles as a training tool for roping horses.
On a regular basis, this donkey is tied to the end of the pole shown in this picture. This makes it so that he can only run in a circle when people on horseback chase him and rope his head and his feet.
Unfortunately, there isn’t anything that can be done since he is in good body condition and “appears” healthy. The roping issue won’t cut it with law enforcement here.
There are reasons why many people feel donkeys shouldn’t be used for roping:
- Donkeys are work and friend animals and aren’t made for roping.
- They can’t handle it physically or emotionally.
- As you know, donkeys have long necks. The esophagus of a steer is located higher and deeper in the muscles of their necks, which are shorter than that of a donkey.
- A donkey’s esophagus can be crushed by a rope because of its placement and exposure.
- Rope burns. They wrap steers’ horns to protect them, but do they wrap anything on donkeys? (The answer is no.)
- The stifle joints of a donkey (similar to a person’s knee) can’t handle that type of roping.
And then there are reasons that people train roping horses on donkeys:
- Donkeys last longer than cattle and they’re cheaper.
March 3, 2011 at 5:00 am
OH NO! That is awful! My heart just breaks for that poor donkey.
Is there anything we can do to change fate for that sad little life? I’d contribute to a rescue fund if you could get him out of there and into a decent, loving home.
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March 3, 2011 at 5:21 am
Oh Justina, he looks so folorn and lonely!!! What can we do? If we readers all pool our money together, can’t we buy him and you give him a home?
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March 3, 2011 at 5:32 am
I know what you mean about focusing on HappyHappy, but sometimes you need to let this stuff out or it’ll drive you insane.
My heart breaks for that poor guy. Especially now that I’ve come to know the your herd and Carson’s. All that personality…just . . . wasted. Ruined.
Very, very sad.
Is there anything that could be done to stop it?
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March 3, 2011 at 5:37 am
This truly breaks my heart.
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March 3, 2011 at 5:49 am
DOWN with donkey ropeing!! Post it on Facebook and Twitter and see if it gets traction!
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March 3, 2011 at 5:57 am
If law enforcement won’t do anything, will the Humane Society or PEATA? The practice must be stopped. Glad you talked about it on your blog — this way maybe more minds kind come up with ideas/solutions.
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March 3, 2011 at 6:24 am
Sickening is right.
Agreeing with you about trying to focus on the positive, BUT……….. If we all sweep the icky stuff under the rug, well, things will only get worse………. When something is Just Wrong, I think we have a duty to stand up and say so.
I’ve always thought that roping anything for sport is horrible………..
We humans have an awful lot to answer for, as a species………..
I will be happy to write a letter and/or make a contribution, once I know where to send?
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March 3, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Just what I wanted to write about… we must not let such cruelty go unspoken.
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March 3, 2011 at 6:31 am
Ohhhh! I just want to wrap my arms around this guy. I never knew this happens. thank you for bringing it to our attention.
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March 3, 2011 at 6:52 am
I will refrain from using the very bad words that are running through my head right now against those who treat these poor animals in such a horrific way. I wish we could tie up those people and chase them around on a big horse and rope them to see how they like it! Thank you for posting this – it needs to be given attention. The more attention it gets, the better the chances are for banning this practice. Let us know if we can assist in any way in helping get this poor baby a better home.
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March 3, 2011 at 6:54 am
😦
People make me so sick sometimes.
And that’s all I can really say without launching into 4-letter expletives.
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March 3, 2011 at 7:04 am
I think we should sneak this little boy out under cover of darkness. 😦
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March 3, 2011 at 7:13 am
Oh! Poor donkey… He looks so sad, so tired… My heart breaks when I see an animal abused….
Sorry, but I could not understand well what means “roping donkey” and also what’s mean to use the poor donkey as a training tool for roping horses…
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March 3, 2011 at 7:28 am
I am so shocked I can’t even think of words. People can be so cruel.
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March 3, 2011 at 7:44 am
OK, I’m going to cry now. If we pooled our money and bought him, they would just get another to replace him. How sad.
And how fair is it that they tie him to a wheel so he can’t dodge or get away from them.
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March 3, 2011 at 8:02 am
He actually looks depressed. I can’t help but imagine how awful I would feel if this was the fate my sweet little Russell could face. I can’t even put into words how I’m feeling right now. This horrible practice must be stopped. What can we do to help this little guy and stop this from happening to other donkeys?
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March 3, 2011 at 8:09 am
Roping is necessary for ranching cattle, and team roping as a sport hones the skills needed to treat cattle on the range. However, that doesn’t excuse using donkeys to improve roping skills. There are plenty of mechanical roping dummies that can be used, and can be cheaply built with a little ingenuity.
I agree that using donkeys for this purpose should be banned. If you rescue this donkey, they will just replace it with another one. Perhaps offering a way to replace the donkey with a mechanical dummy would prevent another donkey from suffering this fate. Then lobby the politicians to get this practice banned as inhumane.
So, inventors, come up with an affordable alternative, based on the existing contraption you see in these photos, add a small motor and a mock-up of a steer, and market it to these people.
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March 3, 2011 at 11:24 am
That’s it! Send them a note to ask them if we could buy them a mechanical roping dummy (around $1k)to use instead of the donkey. I will buy the darn thing if you will take the donkey.
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March 4, 2011 at 8:38 am
And I will help with the purchase as well.
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March 3, 2011 at 9:06 am
Oh my goodness…I am simply heartbroken seeing him so forlorn and his soul seeming so battered. Does he always look like that?
Is there anything that you could suggest we do to help put an end to something like this?
Thank you for posting his picture. I understand the preference to focus on the good but if we don’t at least talk about the sad things then there will never be change.
Sending you a gentle hug because you have to actually see him in person-I cannot imagine how much that hurts you every time you go by.
Thinking of all of the sweet animals who suffer because of arrogance and greed…it is sometimes a very sad world out there.
xoxo
Sue and the crew at DVR
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March 3, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Sue,
Thank you so much.
Unfortunately, yes, he does always look like that. Head down, ears down.
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March 3, 2011 at 10:12 am
I had to look twice because I knew this couldn’t be one of your boys. I’ve never seen them look sad. I understand the need to learn the “skill” but the training methods are cruel and insane.
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March 3, 2011 at 1:00 pm
I’ve read this post about 5 times throughout the day as I just can’t get the image of the poor, sad little donkey out of my head. We should definitely buy them a substitute for the sweet donkey. Thank you for posting his story.. no matter how sad. We can’t turn the blind eye in face of such cruelty… because this is pure cruelty and abuse. Couldn’t some animal welfare society do something about this unnecessary practice?
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March 3, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Yes, I agree. PETA or some group like that? If we buy that donkey they will use others. How about writing those people to complain? Facebook?
I have a wonderful prayer line that I call. It’s very positive and loving and I have called for all kinds of things. Prayer is powerful.
Unity prayer line 1-800-669-7729
There has to be something done so that no animal suffers like this. God will guide us.
Child’s Prayer
Dear God most high, hear and bless
Thy beasts and singing birds:
And guard with tenderness
Small things that have no words.
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March 3, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Suzanne,
Your prayer is beautiful. Thank you.
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March 3, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Some time ago I noticed the new “STOP Donkey Team Roping” (SDTR) link on this site and clicked on it. The articles I found on that site date back to 2009; before I could look for some link to a petition, or at least current info, my fire wall sounded a virus alarm, so I didn’t pursue this further. I haven’t run SDTR by snopes to see whether they are legit. Do you have good info on SDTR, e.g., are they petitioning legislators to ban such abusive practices?
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March 3, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Ines,
Stop Donkey Team Roping isn’t an organization, rather the link on our site is to the Mineral Wells Index out of Mineral Wells, Texas – and an article about donkey roping.
The Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue has some information about donkey roping on their site here: http://www.donkeyrescue.org/texas/team_roping.htm
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March 4, 2011 at 7:26 am
Awww, that’s terrible! I don’t know what can be done but it sure seems like something should be.
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March 4, 2011 at 8:22 am
This poor burro is in my prayers and I do hope that someone will get him out and give him a wonderful home like you do with yours.
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March 4, 2011 at 10:55 am
Sorry I missed this post yesterday. I’ve been obsessed with another issue lately, the rescue of our local Feral Cat colony from a sicko who has laid trails of raw chicken to lead a pack of Coyotes right up to their site to hunt them.
We’ve discussed Donkey Team Roping before, but I hadn’t thought of the Facebook idea that Mel suggested. I’ve just put your link on my Facebook wall. If everyone else here who’s on FB does the same it sure can’t hurt and may just help generate a groundswell of support and some more good ideas.
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March 4, 2011 at 11:11 am
I think they need to tie the cowboys to the wheel and make him run until he begs for mercy, then put him out of his misery.
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March 5, 2011 at 1:10 am
Yesterday I thought I do very bad translaion and cant´t get the context. I would not believe that donkeys are used as a training-tool!
That should be forbidden by law.
I´m very sad to see this poor little donkey as all who answered to this post.
I wish someone can take him home without they replace him by another poor creature there.
Justina thank you for posting this.
Let´s focus on happy things and let us face the facts.
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March 5, 2011 at 11:08 pm
Could someone manage to secretly video tape them doing this? It could then be posted on You Tube. I’m betting there already are others on there. Lot’s of folks on You Tube are protesting other rodeo sports already.
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March 6, 2011 at 12:33 pm
This broke my heart and has been haunting me ever since I read it. Please let us know what we can do.
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March 6, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Please tell me how I can help to put a stop to this. Write someone? Is there an organization working to end this? This is horrible?
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March 7, 2011 at 6:29 am
Back again for another comment. As I understand it, the Texas Penal Code makes this an illegal activity (read the opinion at http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/cases/cruel/txag.htm). Where is this little guy?
When I posted this story on Facebook, someone suggested some kind of mechanical replacement for the burro. (Now that I’ve gone back through all the comments above, I see that someone else here suggested that).
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March 7, 2011 at 6:41 am
clairz,
He’s down the road from us.
This link is extremely helpful though… thank you.
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March 10, 2011 at 8:45 pm
Oh no… =( for your sake I won’t spew the words in my head and my heart. Isn’t Horse Tripping illegal in Texas? Wouldn’t this fall under the Horse Tripping bill? If they rope the hinds causing the Burro to fall I believe it could be argued that this should fall under the horse tripping laws as a Burro is classified as an equine. Maybe that is possible??
I do belive that that Burro should be ‘liberated’. However… I also know when I met Eeyore, a rescued and re-homed roping Donkey that his new home said that in the beginning, any time they tried to approach him that he would run to the nearest corner, put his front end in there and kick wildly at anyone that tried to approach him. That is probably why the Burro in this situation has that awful and sad looking halter on him… so they can easily catch him… liberating him would likely be difficult.
I am thinking lots and lots of bad thoughts about his owners.
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March 15, 2011 at 8:02 am
Sweet lord……how very sad………
I am a great believer in there being a place for humans who abuse animals with
‘An Eye For An Eye’ as the code……..
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April 18, 2011 at 7:35 am
if they are not tide up its just the same as team roping and thats not bad
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