2/8/16 4pm Corrected to reflect the event benefits the FFA and not ASB and also included the district’s response.
For many years, one of the most well-attended Ferndale Schools Associated Student Body (ASB) Future Farmers of America (FFA) fundraisers has been a donkey basketball event held in the high school gym. This year, Whatcom Humane Society (WHS) has come out saying the event scheduled for Saturday, February 13th, should be cancelled.
Donkey basketball is a basketball game played with the players riding donkeys. Click here to view a video of a donkey basketball game held in Ferndale.
According to the event’s promotional materials, participants this year include FHS staff and students, Les Schwab staff, Ferndale Police Department, Whatcom Fire District 7 personnel and others. The donkeys are provided and the event produced by Donkey Sports, Inc. of Entiat, Washington.
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WHS went to Facebook today to ask their supporters to contact school officials to “encourage them to cancel this deplorable event.”
The donkeys involved, can be subjected to a variety of abuses including being pushed, pulled, kicked or punched by riders (most of whom are very inexperienced when it comes to animal handling/riding). In addition, the donkeys can easily slip or fall on the slick gym floor, be hit by wayward basketballs and experience stress by being subjected to noisy crowds inside a cramped, enclosed gymnasium.
Donkey Basketball fundraisers encourage our communities to exploit animals for profit and teach our children that animal abuse is acceptable.
Please take the time to contact the Ferndale School District and tell them that animal abuse/exploitation is not acceptable in our community and encourage them to cancel this deplorable event. Certainly, there are other ways for school groups to raise needed funds for their important programs.
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According to Donkey Sports’ website, they have been conducting these events since 1980 and are accustomed to hearing such claims from animal rights groups,
There are some animal rights groups that would like to prevent human use of all animals. To attain this goal, they often put out misinformation concerning donkey basketball.
The treatment of the donkeys during the donkey basketball game is of utmost concern to Donkey Sports, Inc. We insist on our employee be the referee to insure that the donkeys are treated humanely and with respect. Players who do not comply with our standards of treatment are replaced. Some of the treatment standards are: weight limits, no hitting or kicking of donkeys, and no pulling of donkey ears, hair or tails.
Animal rights groups are a small, misinformed segment of society and should not be allowed to deprive the rest of the community from this fun event.
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No one was available from the school district to comment for this story since district offices are closed for the weekend.
Update 2/8/16 4pm: The school district sent this response to Discover Ferndale:
The school district is in the position of trying to strike a balance between honoring the traditions of our local community with the concerns of the animal rights community.
We will share the communication we have received from the animal rights group with our students. They will have the conversation about whether this is the type of event that should continue in the future.
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In the meantime, there are rules in place for the safety of both the animals and the players, our students have spent time and resources preparing for this event, and our community is expecting to participate. As a result, we are choosing to let the event continue as planned.
I would ask any protestors to help us make this a constructive learning experience for our students. And, I would ask our students to honor the right of individuals to have opinions different than their own.
Nothing could be found when searching the Internet for references to “injured donkey” and “donkey basketball” to indicate an injury to a donkey during such an event was ever recorded. But, according to PETA, there have been accounts of players being injured.
A participant in a Waterloo, Illinois, donkey basketball game was awarded more than $110,000 for injuries that he sustained in a game, and in another game, a Wisconsin state senator fell off a donkey and broke her leg. In February 2006, a fifth-grade teacher in Florida sued the Diocese of St. Petersburg and the owner of the Dixie Donkey Ball company claiming that she had suffered injuries after being thrown off a donkey at a fundraiser.