The Palo Alto City Council in California, USA, has decided to give a healthcare grant of $10,000 (approximately Rs 8 lakh) for the care of three elderly donkeys, who live in the city’s Bol Park. Amongst them is the famous donkey named Perry, who was the inspiration behind developing the iconic character of ‘Donkey’ from the animated film series Shrek. Perry, now 30 years old, lives alongside his fellow donkeys Buddy, 24, and April, 15. Donkeys typically have an average lifespan of 27 to 40 years.
Jenny Kiratli, the lead donkey handler at Bol Park, said that Shrek’s animators needed to study the movements of a real life donkey to develop the main character of Donkey. The wife of one of the animators informed them of Perry. About 10 to 15 animators then visited Perry and studied his movements. At the time, Perry was just five years old. This incident increased Perry’s popularity and now the three donkeys at Bol Park have become beloved across Palo Alto city.
Jenny Kiratli told the Los Angeles Times that as the donkeys have aged their medical expenses have climbed up. Kiratli said that the donkeys can be taken care of for “an annual budget of about Rs 10 lakh to Rs 12 lakh just a few years ago”, adding that the “third donkey and new medical conditions that have come up now have “raised expenses to as much as Rs 33 lakh per year.”
Jenny Kiratli stressed that the three donkeys are popular amongst the locals and claimed that there was “something very therapeutic about donkeys,” adding that it was a “break from the stresses and the pace of Silicon Valley.”
The city council’s decision to set aside 10,000 dollars (Rs 8 lakh) for the upkeep of the ageing donkeys has also invited some controversy. One Palo Alto council member opposed the grant citing a budget crunch and told the Los Angeles Times, “We have a deficit for the next four years or so. It just seems irresponsible, in my opinion, so I don’t support this and I don’t think we should be doing this right now.”
Defending the decision, Palo Alto Mayor Greer Stone said that the donkey healthcare grant was taken from the city council’s contingency fund, which has $77,000 left to spend (approximately Rs 64 lakh).