Controversial Topic

     While searching about controversial topics regarding the use of donkeys, I firstly thought of their use in cultural events, such as racings. However, in a more accurate research we can find their use in sport events. One that really caught my attention was a game called “Donkey Basketball”, which is a common practice for fundraising in the United States since 1930’s, just after the Big Depression. Its mechanism consists of provision of donkeys by a breeder or a person that owns retired animals.          

    

Donkeys being transported to a Basketball game many decades ago.

      Once the owner of the company receives a request, the animals board into a loading truck and they travel miles away until the destination. They are frequently demanded by high schools and universities throughout the entire country. Just before the game, participants/players receive instructions regarding overall rules, most common donkeys’ behaviors, and how should they treat the animals.

       The game per se is characterized by regular timing and often by four teams composed of eight to ten players. Grandstands are commonly overcrowded with cheerful supporters and some referees supervise all players’ obedience regarding the rules.    

  Donkey Basketball for fundraising

      Another kind of sport in which donkeys are used is the racing. This kind of event has been practiced over than 70 years. Even in the website of donkey resource, they mention this event as being funny, because some animals can be uncooperative, leading to amusement of all participants. Generally, these races last for a long period during the night, in a specific season (mid-May through September every year).

    Controversially, some animal rights groups advocate against these practices, such as PETA. This organization provides a link on their website to inform how animals are frequently treated during these games. Since these animals are not covered by the Animal Welfare Act, they are at the mercy of mistreatment and no penalization. They state that these donkeys are regularly “dragged, kicked, and punched by participants who have no animal-handling experience”. In addition, they also believe that this kind of practice can lead to kids’ desensitization and their encouragement to cruelty toward animals. Ultimately, in a final topic, they provide some information regarding accidents that have happened to adults during these games: one in Illinois, a player was awarded more than U$ 110,000 for injuries during to the game.                

Donkey being pulled by a player

Adults can get hurt during these games

       I personally agree with PETA's educational piece of information. Using donkeys in such kind of sports is totally unnecessary for amusement. Even in official news aiming to promote the event, we can patently see that this is not a calm and ideal environment for them. The places are overcrowded, people yell all the time, the sound of the whistle is sharp, and many players keep pulling the animals’ halter when they refuse to enter the sport court. During the game, animals hoof in an attempt to get rid of those who are riding them. Although players receive instructions just before the game, these are very superficial and general, and many people don’t even pay attention to the expert’s words. This leads to inappropriate handling of the animals, which can cause a stressful time to those donkeys. I would, in fact, add another topic highlighting the disadvantages of donkey basketball: this practice can highly be harmful to the animals themselves; basket balls are heavy and, during the games, are thrown in a high speed, which can fall in an animal’s head or back and hurt it.

                Electronic Resources:

                About Donkey Basketball

                Company that provides donkeys

                PETA website against Donkey Basketball

Donkeys in Religion

    Donkeys are frequently mentioned in religious books, tales and representations. They can found depicted in Egyptian, Mussulman, Jewish, Judeo-Christian and even in Indian culture and stories. For example, this animal is the vehicle for the Hindu goddess Kalaratri, one of the fiercest depiction of Hindu gods. She rides a donkey, which is a symbol of loyalty and destruction of darkness and ignorance.

Kalaratri riding a donkey, symbol of loyalty

    However, the donkey is very frequently cited and artistically represented in Christianity. Since it was a regular animal, spread among several areas as a common resource of load transportation, it is portrayed many times in the Bible (Old and New Testaments) becoming a solid part of this tradition. Often compared to horses, donkeys were not a kind of animal for war battles or for pushing cavalry and fancy chariots. Actually, these animals were a representative of the humble and lowly peoples, always loyal and a source of arduous money or supplies to provide human family survival. In the Bible, we have the passage: “Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey!" (Zechariah 9:9). This meant that the Messiah would appear to everyone riding a donkey for peoples’ salvation. In the New Testament, Jesus is the one who appears on a donkey, triumphantly entering into Jerusalem, period known as Palm Sunday.

Jesus riding a donkey on Palm Sunday. Notice that the animal is depicted in a central placement, and in a high dimension.

     When Jesus came into Jerusalem gates, the whole crowd recognized the Messiah prophecy because of the donkey and shout: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mt 21:9), which is still done as a salutation when the Holy Sacrifice is celebrated. The donkey represented Jesus as a humble rustic man, on a peaceful mission. This animal, then, became the sacred throne for a King. In addition, Jesus also challenged the way of how most of the people perceived those animals: they were frequently mistreated and considered as having no soul, no right to receive respect and compassion. Thence, we can also interpret Jesus’ triumphal arrival as a questioning regarding our treatment toward animals as well.

     A contemporary consequence of this could be the common association of donkeys to humble people, and especially the religious ones. Because of this kind relationship, these animals can be seen as peaceful, significant and even holy animals.

Famous depiction of Jesus' arrival at Jerusalem

Electronic Resources:

                Donkeys in Religion and Mythology

                Kalaratri – Hindu goddess

                Jesus riding a donkey on Palm Sunday

Donkeys in Films

It is interesting when it comes to donkeys being represented in movies. At a first moment, we tend to not remember a film in which a donkey has appeared. However, if we donate just a few minutes thinking about it, a lot of characters will come to our minds.

                First of all, we can find different cinematographic versions of many literature pieces, such as the ones mentioned on the post about “Literature” (“Don Quixote” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”). Actually, parodies are commonly produced, bringing our special animal to a foreground; for instance, we can find a movie called “Donkey Xote”, in which the producers made a pun with the phonetic name of the main character, leading to a particular focus on the loyal animal portrayed in the original book.

The donkey is brought to foreground, playing an important role in the plot

                In “Donkey Xote”, an Italian-Spanish animated children’s comedy movie, the whole story is told by Cervantes, but he is interrupted by Rucio, the talking donkey, who re-tells the entire plot, wishing he was Rocinante, Cervantes’ horse. One more time, the donkey is brought to the forefront and catches public admiration.

                Below, everybody can check “Donkey Xote” trailer in English:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcASkdv105Y

                Whoever has lived together with kids knows about Winnie the Pooh and his group, formed by animal characters as well. Each one is depicted as a different species and carries a particular personality, frequently replete of complex psychological matters. One of them is a beloved donkey, named “Eeyore”. He often appears in Winnie the Pooh movies, such as “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” and “Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore”, which focuses more on him.

               

                In “Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore”, Pooh and other friends are playing on a bridge over a river when they see Eeyore floating. At this time, the donkey tells them “Don’t pay attention to me, nobody ever does”. Nevertheless, his animal friends help him get out of the river. We can easily see that Eeyore was curiously expecting to be saved by the team. As the episode goes, public knows that is Eeyore’s birthday, and he sadly mourns the lack of gifts, cake and candles. In a gloomy way, he seems to deal with it. After the whole group arranges him a surprise party and unexpected gifts, the donkey kindly smiles. We can easily see that he did want their attention, but did not express that explicitly.

                Below, you can watch the entire episode:

                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5gj10SLsq0

                Eeyore seems a sad character, with a pessimist point of view, or he just prefers to be quiet in his place thinking about life, introspectively. This creates a feeling of compassion and pity in the public. We tend to see this little stuffed donkey as a creature wanting love, attention and care. His lovely appearance does not match with his behavior, and this evokes in us a desire of taking care of him, being special for him.  On the other hand, Eeyore is commonly used as a symbol to some psychological effects and behavioral classifications, such as for children who promptly find practical and realistic solutions to daily problems, or who easily accepts frustrating circumstances. For sure, some specialists say that this character can interfere in some kids’ behavior, but the whole team of Winnie The Pooh stories blends personalities and teaches different kinds of lessons regarding each one’s way of perceiving life.

Eeyore, with his greyish cover and a sad appearance.

Eeyore is commonly represented under a single cloud with rain. He seems to be resigned. This evokes a feeling of compassion in the public.

                “Shrek”, a well-known and successful movie caught the attention of children and adults. In many Shrek movies, one character that was surprisingly catchy was the Donkey. He is a talkative donkey, energized, excited about everything and can be clumsy and really clever at the same time. His loyal behavior towards Shrek makes him a real good confident who emanates safety and sympathy. Donkey often breaks the climax throughout the story with funny actions and jokes that amuse children but also contributes with references that adults will understand and laugh at. Some people say that Donkey has broken the stereotype of those regular animals, since general opinion considers donkeys boring animals, without facial expressions. This particular character smiles a lot and he projects a positive view regarding donkeys in general.

Donkey is constantly smiling and becomes a friend and confident to Shrek.

                Electronic Resources:

                Donkey Xote

                Talking Donkeys

                Eeyore - character

                The Eeyore effect

Donkeys in Literature

Donkeys are amazingly depicted in many kinds of literature. There are plenty of children books encompassing these animals in stories that provide a moral end, teaching kids some values needed in society.

Adult Literature also holds donkeys as important or main characters in many stories, such as in Shakespeare’s masterpiece “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, in which Bottom, a weaver, receives a sort of prank that converts his human head in a donkey’s face. This story popularized the notion of “ass” as an insult meaning stupid, rude or clumsy.           

Bottom with head of a donkey in Shakespeare work

However, in “Don Quixote”, Cervantes’ masterpiece, a well-known character among the main characters (Don Quixote, and Sancho Panza) was Dapple, Sancho Panza’s donkey. This story evoked a more positive way of seeing this animal. Indeed, Dapple was characterized as a jittery and easily frightened donkey. However, he faced tough moments with his human companions, such as being pelted or falling into a hole. Despite the suffering along their journey, this donkey was steady and extremely loyal. Sancho Panza was depicted as having a special bond with Dapple, talking to him when traveling, protecting him, hugging him, mourning when he was stolen by a character named Gines de Pasamonte, etc. Sancho Panza frequently refers to Dapple as an extra member of his family when he says that the animal is a “child of his bowels, a treasure to his children, a delight to his wife, the ease of his burdens”. One part of the story that completely describes the loyalty and importance of Dapple is when Don Quixote is beaten, and the donkey carries the bloody man until he recovers his strength to walk alone.

Analyzing Dapple’s role in “Don Quixote”, we can infer that this specific species was chosen due to its predominance and significance during that time in Europe. Donkeys were very common in Spain, especially for carrying loads for people. Since this animal is also a symbol of peacefulness and humility, it could be a representative of humble peoples, who were depicted in the story. Cervantes could also successfully represent Dapple in a realistic way, since donkeys are indeed very loyal, respectful and companions.

Don Quixote with his horse and Sancho Panza with his loyal companion, Dapple, the donkey.

Metal work depicting Sancho Panza with Dapple

               

               Electronic Resources:

                Donkeys in films

                Don Quixote and Dapple

Donkeys in Art

             It is incredible to realize how often donkeys are depicted in Art. They are present in paintings, sculptures, stained glasses, etc.  It is really interesting to analyze the purpose or motive of donkeys’ representation and compare them between former and more contemporary forms of Art. 

             While searching, we can find several types of donkey depiction: terracotta sculptures, panels, tomb painting, medieval stained glasses… In fact, these animals were extremely typical throughout history. Arguably any layman can infer they played an important and significant role in each part of the world, in many different societies.    

      Below, we can appreciate a sculpture made during prehistoric period, a rustic representation of a donkey carrying panniers, found in Cyprus (an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, north of Egypt). This piece of art and of history is housed and exposed in the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, in United Kingdom. Scholars and experts associate this depiction with donkeys’ primary and essential function at that time: as pack animals, helping in burden transportation of copper to the coast. Besides this model, others are commonly cited in history books, as evidence of settlement of some peoples along the northern Troodos (largest mountain range of Cyprus) and north coast. One more time, these animals supported historical studies and findings that helped deciphering important facts of societies’ development; in this case, related to valuable goods exploitation and commerce.

Terracotta model of a donkey, as a pack animal

          Indeed, donkeys continue to be a good model and vehicle for art expression nowadays. We can find some contemporary representations of these animals scattered throughout many countries. One that really caught my attention was an exhibition in Egypt as part of the 2013 Caravan Festival of the Arts, in Cairo, in which donkeys were adopted as its theme.                               

       The exhibition had the purpose of using a representative animal in that area as a parody of the “Cow Parade”, an art program originated in Zurich in 1998, where fiberglass cow sculptures decorated by many local artists are placed in public venues, such as parks, train stations, etc. Thence, donkey, as the symbol of peace and compassion in Christian and Muslim religions, were chosen the ideal animal. It counted with the participation of many artists, who provided the real sized and quarter-sized fiberglass sculptures and their cover painting and/or decoration.             

            Several donkeys were decorated by several points of view and interpretation of many different artists. Some of them received colorful covers and adornments, each one representing a specific message.

Donkey with horoscope symbols, angels, birds and flowers. The artist wanted to revive her childhood, bringing her peace and evasion of reality.

In the picture above the foreground donkey was decorated with symbols associated with rural Egyptian landscape of palm trees, courtyard houses, and pigeon towers. The background donkey represents a passage of Koran regarding religious intolerance: “Those that worship Allah but do not follow his laws are like a donkey which carries books and understands them not.” In other words, one cannot memorize the Koran without understanding it; otherwise, one will just hold information, not retain it.

In this sculpture the artist wanted to address the question “Am I slave or free?”, transforming the donkey into a wind-up clock.

  As we can see, donkeys can be represented in a realistic way, frequently observed in ancient forms of art, or as a customized symbol or vehicle for human points of view, expressions, questioning, criticism, etc.

Electronic Resources:

                Terracotta rustic donkey

                Terracotta rustic donkey [2]

                Egyptian panel

                Egyptian Contemporary Art Festival