Perry, beloved donkey of Bol Park, dies at 30
www.paloaltoonline.com
Perry, a beloved miniature donkey who has been a fixture of Bol Park for nearly three decades and who famously served as the model for the Donkey character in "Shrek," was euthanized on Thursday after battling a painful hoof disease, Jenny Kiratli, the donkey's handler, told this publication. He was 30.
  • SupraMario@lemmy.worldEnglish
    131·
    4 days ago

    Laminitis is what they get from over eating sugary grass and being overweight…the owners should have had him on a dry lot rotation…dude would have been fine if the owners knew anything. This is like letting a diabetic eat cake and then wondering why their feet are falling off.

    • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      11·
      4 days ago

      Not a equine person, but the article says he also had a condition that made a leg sore, causing him to (technical term) tripod. Wouldn’t that habitual 3-legged stance also cause overload of the remaining legs, similar to being overweight?

      • SupraMario@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        4 days ago

        Sort of, but it’s almost guaranteed that this donkey foundered and the reason he was tri poding like that is because that legs coffin bone has gone through the frog, it’s basically if you had no skin/muscle over your heel bone, all of a horses weight is on that bone. It’s excruciatingly painful when it’s exposed. I’m a little annoyed at the owners in this article, because all of this would have been easily prevented by taking care of him and dry lotting him even for 1/2 the day, toss in hay, manage his weight. Even after he foundered they could have dry lotted him, put glue on shoes and have a bare foot farrier get his hoves back in order. They just let this poor guy suffer, probably for months if not years.

        • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          3·
          4 days ago

          Thank you for clarifying.

          After I put my dog 5 years ago (because end-stage kidney failure) I have a better appreciation for the idea of not letting a critter suffer. The part of the article that rubbed me wrong was when they were just like “well, we’ll wait and hope things get better”. Hope is not a strategy.

          • SupraMario@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            3 days ago

            Thank you for doing the right thing. So many people have a mindset of “letting nature do its thing” which is selfish bullshit. We are supposed to be the guardians of the animals we care for. Watching them suffer is not ok.

            • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
              2·
              3 days ago

              Thanks. It was the toughest decision of my life, but once I’d made it I knew it was the right decision. No regrets.

              We’re currently watching our elderly (~16yo) pup with early kidney failure and hoping he stays enthusiastic as long as possible. He’s a sleepy boy but still enjoys his hobbies, and seems unbothered by his health conditions (except that his kidney food is less interesting than any other food.)