Donkeys have sadly been the beast of burden since the beginning of time. “Here is the sad truth, donkeys are usually cheap and easily replaceable. When the farmer is using the donkey as a beast of burden the job is clearly to benefit the farmer to make a profit.” When the donkey gets sick no veterinarian is called as this would cut into the profit, sadly the donkey dies a painful lonely death. Next, the human repeats the cycle of abuse, hurries, and purchases a replacement donkey to do the job of the beast of burden for $100.00 to $350.00. Yes, this is sadly the price people pay for the unwanted donkey that is forced to work and live a horrible life.
How do you think they are training these donkeys to walk a cow? Tying the cow up for a few hours to prepare for the donkey. Now attach a harness to the neck of the donkey attached to the cow and place them in a small space. What could possibly go wrong? If the donkey is an extrovert personality the donkey will panic, rear up, bite the cow in the eyes, nose, ears, and lips and kick at the cow trying to escape causing injuries to the donkey and the cow. If the donkey is an introverted personality the donkey will freeze, try to lay down, and will get drug by the cow as he/she freezes. Have you seen people dragging a donkey behind a car? It’s another form of abuse due to the ignorance of humans not understanding the donkey’s need for self-preservation. Now let’s think about what happens if the bull is angry, he is going to attack the donkey that is tethered and tied to the bull. By the time the humans get them untied serious injuries even life-threatening injuries to the donkey. Time to buy another cheap donkey and dispose of the donkey’s body.
Have you ever heard the saying, no animal on the farm gets a free lunch? The donkeys are being used to teach a cow, steer, or bull how to lead on a halter as the human did not take the time to train the cow when the calf was young. Now the donkey is tethered to the cow at the neck of the donkey. The donkey wants to get away from the cow but cannot, as he is tethered creating torture to the cow and the donkey. The donkeys that survive will walk around in a daze trying to get away from the horrible constraints of being tied by the neck to the cow, which in many cases is double or triple the weight of the donkey. This donkey is now sold as a trained donkey to halter break a cow, steer, or bull.
Sadly, donkeys that have been abused by humans and treated unfairly will have a very difficult time trusting humans again. These donkeys will not want to get the halter on, will not want to have their hooves trimmed, and will dream of the day they get to die so the pain and suffering ends.
Donkeys are intelligent, they are as smart as dolphins and have a memory like an elephant. Everything humans due to the donkey is stored for life, everything. When a new human brings home a donkey who has survived physical and emotional trauma the donkey will be standoffish and will not want anything to do with humans. This is why I do what I do to teach the owner or caretaker how to tame and train donkeys. I teach via Donkey 101 & 102 video on demand with my E-book worldwide.
Read https://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=2256
Melody Johnson, Donkey Whisperer Farm ®
