Donkey Basketball - Fun for the Family or Animal Abuse?

This past winter, I attended a fun event at a local high school. Donkey basketball was set up to raise money for a cancer victim in a local town. As I arrived at the school, several people were handing out flyer's outside the gym. I didn't pay much attention until I got into the gym and sat down. The flyer's were from an animal rights activist group.

It seemed like they felt that the animals were being abused by being used for entertainment. Being the journalist that I am, I thought that I would check into it and see if they were being abused.

The donkeys had rubber shoes on their hooves to prevent them from slipping or falling on the floor. These also prevented the floor from being scuffed up. The donkeys had soft bridles on them and a small pad on their back. They didn't have saddles on them.

One of the complaints of the activists was that the donkeys were kicked and whipped by the contestants. I didn't observe any whippings but, from time to time the donkeys would be kicked to get them to move towards one end of the court. Most of the kicking was leg action though instead of heal action. This was because the people on them had longer legs. I did think that a couple of the men on the donkeys were too heavy for them. However, I don't know how much weight a donkey can hold.

The owner of the donkeys did take precautions. He discouraged kicking and told one man that he weighed too much for the donkey and wouldn't let him play.

The participants wear bicycle helmets for protection. Every now and then a donkey would buck the person them but not too violently. Sometimes the donkeys would show their stubbornness and not move, so the participant would have to pull or coax them to go in the right direction.

The game is played 4 on 4 with a referee. The referee spent a lot of time chasing down the ball on errant shots or passes. The company that provided the donkeys also had a set of rules for the participants to follow.

The action of the contest wasn't too fast. Most of the donkeys moved at their own pace. However, from time to time, a donkey would take off on a short run.