i love everything about this.

Fat kids banned from donkey rides


Children over eight stone are to be banned from riding donkeys on a Lancashire beach under new animal cruelty rules.
The code of practice has been written by The Donkey Sanctuary and is endorsed by the British Equine Veterinary Association.

Blackpool already has stringent "employment rights'' for its 200 donkeys, brought in three years ago.

These include working no more than six days a week between 10am to 7pm, with one full day of rest, a minimum of an hour's lunch break and a donkey "MOT'' at the start of the summer season to ensure the animals are fit.

Council inspectors also do spot-checks to make sure their rights are respected.

The new code will be handed over to the town's mayor Robert Wynne and Joan Humble, Labour MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, at the North Pier.

The donkeys, first brought to Britain to toil down mines, plod along the beach in the Blackpool in sun and rain, taking tens of thousands of children on £2 rides each season.

Martin Taggart, the Sanctuary's head of welfare says: "We already see an excellent standard of care for many beach donkeys in the UK, including Blackpool.

"The Code of Practice will help to support local authorities to ensure all beach donkeys receive the same levels of care.

"The other purpose of the code is to provide a resource of advice and support to those working with beach donkeys or setting up new businesses. We are here to help in anyway we can."

Jesus...kids shouldn't be stoned at 8 or even 9. I agree with these new regulations.

The British are nice to donkeys!!

We put adults up on donkeys and send them down the Grand Canyon.

i approached this thread emotionless to the plight of the average passenger donkey, but my heart suddenly melted when i opened it up and looked at that poor little donkey's face.

i approach life emotionless but that donkey's face changed me forever.

I think they use mules for the grand canyon. At least I hope they do.

So it's ok for mules?

Isn't a mule the same thing as a donkey?

Mules are hybrids. They are the sterile offspring of a donkey and a horse. They are about the same size as horses, but stockier.

You know, a town with money is like the mule with the spinning wheel.

In the old days, this would have been the first or second reply.

I'm sure they'd rather have cake anyways

Frankly, if it ever came down to a donkey ride or a cake, I'd take the cake every time.

I don't know, man.

A donkey ride sounds pretty fun.

You can have cake any 'ol time. But a donkey ride?

When told of the new weight restrictions on the donkey rides, this youngster seemed confident he would work the weight off.


Though this reporter is somewhat unsure as to what he meant.

How many stone can a mule lift?

Why the hell is the weight unit 'stone' still in existence? Aren't Kilograms good enough for the Brits?

I didn't even know anyone still used that unit.

I guess it's no more retarded than American's still using pounds and miles, though.