🔗 Share this article

A free-roaming donkey called Cupid is recovering from surgery following being struck with an arrow in what officials label the most recent in a sequence of multiple attacks starting last month on asses that roam partly rural areas of California's southern interior.

Animal Aid Ongoing

The young female was spotted last Wednesday with a colored projectile embedded in her front limb as she roamed with a herd in the rolling hills of the region.

Animal services and the county law enforcement responded and assisted in transporting the wounded animal in for an emergency procedure to remove the arrowhead. The object had punctured the burro’s right lung.

“She is currently stable and is standing, which is a major positive sign,” an animal advocate stated.

When Cupid is fully recovered, she will be introduced to a collection of rescued burros who roam a expansive preserve and protected habitat.

Reward Offered for Tips

The non-profit is offering a $24,000 reward, raised from donations, for information resulting in the capture and prosecution of those connected in at least six arrow assaults on burros over the recent period.

The government office of animal services announced that the inquiry is still active, and appealed for the people's support in locating a suspect or suspects.

Legally Guarded Animals

Free-roaming asses are shielded under national legislation. They are an recognizable representation of the western United States, tracing back to their days as transport creatures for people flocking to California during the 19th-century rush.

Burros have become an “unofficial mascot” of the region, where numerous of them have rambled freely for at least seven decades. They even contribute to wildfire abatement by eating flammable vegetation in hard-to-reach and ready-to-burn canyons.

“So they really do provide a benefit to the community. The firefighters appreciate them because, they note: ‘Hey, these guys can go locations we can’t go,’” a representative mentioned.

Community Impact

The animals are calm but occasionally they can be a bother if they consume residents’ flowers or cause delays when drivers stop to offer them food from their cars.

In the past, a nearby county, where wild burros are believed to total in the multiple thousands, partnered with a charitable group to responsibly catch the animals and move them to sanctuaries.

“While the wild burros please numerous residents and visitors, they also commonly face road traffic and cargo trains, causing harm for both species,” officials announced.

“The burros also badly hurt themselves resulting in disease and fatality when they become snared in enclosures or when their feet get trapped in memorial ornaments.”

Repeated Violence

The shots used in the attacks were sharp-pointed arrows, a style commonly employed for hunting. According to non-profit accounts, the initial incident happened the start of the summer, when a young burro was found feeding with an arrow in her side close to where Cupid was found.

A few days later, a another burro was found shot with a comparable type of arrow in the equivalent location. Since then, at least more donkeys were attacked in the area, including a pair believed to be two to four months old.

Healthy donkeys typically live 40 years or more and vary in size from compact “minis” that may weigh a substantial amount to bulky “large breeds”.

Previously, two men confessed to national offenses for using large-caliber weapons to kill three wild burros in a desert region.