ACTIVISTS TO SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS: DON'T BE ASININE
Activists Call on School System to Cancel Donkey Basketball

VICKSBURG, Mich. – Mill Valley, California-based In Defense of Animals (IDA) has joined Michigan’s All Species Kinship (ASK) in calling on Vicksburg Schools to cancel a donkey-basketball fundraiser scheduled for next Thursday, March 18.
 
In a letter to Vicksburg Schools’ superintendent, Patricia Reeves, IDA requested that the school hold the game without the animals and suggested that the school hold the fundraiser using human volunteers, who unlike the animals, choose to be there.
 
Donkeys used in basketball games are shipped around the country in cramped conditions and are forced to “play” as many as 300 games each year. During the games, students and adults who have little or no experience with the animals drag them around a court. Because students are often more interested in showing off to their classmates than in the animals’ welfare, they are yanked and screamed at; hit and kicked. The animals have food withheld prior to the events to prevent potential unsightly “accidents.” One Cleveland animal organization’s investigation found two donkeys chained outside in 34-degree temperatures with no food or water in sight. The group claimed that one of the donkey’s hair was completely chafed from his back from excessive riding. During the game, animals buckled under the weight of 250-pound riders as they were beaten with sticks to keep moving.
 
In addition to potential injuries to animals, players who participate in the games are at risk: A Wisconsin state senator fell off a donkey and broke her leg during one donkey basketball game and a Waterloo, Illinois man was awarded $110,000 for injuries he sustained in a donkey basketball game.
 
Hamilton High School in Holland, Michigan cancelled a December 2003 game citing safety concerns. In addition, many cities, counties, or school districts have completely banned donkey ball games, including Washington County, Maryland schools and the Monmouth County Education Association in New Jersey. Zionsville Community Schools in Indiana has banned the use of animals in fundraisers altogether.
 
IDA’s letter to Superintendent Patricia Reeves is available upon request.

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