My wife, kids and I were recently at a local park’s chocolate festival when something stunning happened to my one year-old Briani. As my son Jonathan took his little sister near a donkey that a Juan Valdez-looking man was parading around for kids to pet, the donkey bit Briani on her baby fingers!
Even more surreal was that I actually photographed, with a zoom lens (see above photo) the exact moment when the evil donkey chomped on her fingers so hard that she bled.
Now, in my lifetime I’ve been bitten by dogs (three times), cats (more time than I can count), ants (many times) and even a Jelly Fish (the worst sting in my life) but I had never heard of anyone getting chomped on by an innocent-looking donkey (see Briani’s bite mark in the photo below). In fact, Briani may be the only person I’ll ever know that’s been bitten by one.
The other day I was reminded about the donkey story because my six year old Elena, who wants to be a veterinarian, and Jonathan were talking with me about “nice doggies” (the ones that don’t bite) and “mean doggies” (the ones that do).
Elena said she recently befriended a sweet cocker spaniel who she swore is one of the nicest dogs she knows and Jonathan was reminiscing about how his favorite dog ever was one called Dug because he played ball with him and even once defended him from another dog.
The kids’ conversation about good and bad animals gave me the opportunity to show them the Dangerous Donkey Trick. This trick, which unfortunately relates to Briani’s painfully true story, is about reminding kids to remember that all animals are ultimately animals. Jonathan and Elena now know that if an innocent-looking donkey that is constantly with the public is capable of inflicting a toddler with his teeth, then any pet (theirs or someone else’s) is also capable of harming them. The Dangerous Donkey Trick is not about making your kids paranoid about animals but rather about showing them that that when it comes to animals, even a donkey can turn against them so it’s best that they never let their guard down with them.
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