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Rabbit Advocacy Animal Matters
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Let the (donkey) games go on February 28, 2013 hometownlife.com Observer & Eccentric From Britain to Brazil, from Panama to Portugal, Redford Union High School is becoming infamous for its devotion to donkey basketball. PETA, an animal rights group, has launched a public plea to halt the planned March 1 game and is threatening a protest. According to PETA, the game should be canceled because: “Donkey basketball games are loud, chaotic, and utterly bizarre events during which docile animals are pulled, shoved, screamed at, whipped, and forced to support riders who are too heavy for them to carry comfortably. Used again and again, the donkeys are lugged from place to place for months on end in small, poorly ventilated vehicles, with no consideration for their welfare, safety, or happiness.” An online petition drive that began Feb. 19 claims the event is “torture” and as of Monday had nearly 1,700 signatures. The overwhelming majority of signatures are not from the United States, let alone Michigan or Redford so there is no way of knowing how much local rancor against the game exists. The game raises a few thousand dollars for various clubs at the school and has a long tradition at Redford Union. The superintendent of Huron Valley Schools recently forced the cancellation of a donkey basketball game planned for Milford High. In that case, concerns over potential liability for holding the event and the adverse publicity simply wasn't worth it. Activists have protested RU's donkey basketball game before and the event was once called off and rescheduled in the same week over the controversy. In the end, tradition won out and the game went on. It seems the same cycle of outrage, indignation and hand wringing are in play this year and that's too bad. While donkey basketball is certainly not an enlightened event, labeling it torture is just as silly as the games. Animals get yanked around the court and the odd human is bucked to the ground. But there is far more laughter than tears at these games and if donkey basketball were truly torture, it would be hard to fathom why that's the case. Comment: Redford Union High School's co-chairman of the event, Gary Gradinscak, says that this event has been going on since the 1950s. In our letter to the school, we pointed out that there are plenty of humane and ethical alternative fundraising activities that “provide a quality educational environment” without leaving the school’s reputation tarnished. Tradition and culture are barriers to our moral advancement. There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect. Ronald Reagan – President, USA Visit our Ethics & Animal Exploitation pages |