Donkey, The most Misunderstood And Abused Animal

When Barack Obama won the US Presidential elections for the first time. I didn't even know the names of the political parties of the US. I remember I was shocked when my cousin told me that the political symbol of democrats is donkey.

Not even me but my other cousins also got shocked after hearing that. The reason was that donkey is considered the most stupid animal in my country. My people consider it stupid to level that they use it as an example for a foolish person. For example, if someone commits a mistake, they call that person "Khote, Gadhe" which is the local language translation for donkey. Once our current Prime Minister Imran Khan called his opponent Nawaz Sharif a donkey. And still, his supporter calls Nawaz Sharif and his supporters' donkeys. Because our PMs supporters consider their rivals dumb and foolish.

It even got worse when a group of unknown PTI supporters tortured a donkey by breaking its bones, ripping its nostrils, and branded the word "Nawaz Sharif". In short, if someone is stupid, he is called a donkey by most people.

So, after hearing I raised these same points to my cousin. He was the most knowledgeable and broad-minded among all of us. He asked me "which animal is the most hardworking" and I answered donkey without any doubt. After hearing my answer he concluded that's the reason why Democrats have respect for the donkey. He even insisted that the donkey should be considered as a sign of hard work, not stupidity and democrats also respect it for carrying a heavy load and persistence. Thats why they used this symbol in their electoral campaigns.

Poor donkey is ridiculed and made fun of almost everywhere. It is the most innocent animal and it bears all silently. It is always subjected to horrible abuse and ill-treatment. I remember the donkey's owner used to bring large-sized sandbags, bricks, cement bags, and other construction materials to our neighbors home for construction. They used donkeys because the streets were narrow and only donkeys were able to bring all the construction stuff. It was the month of July and we have record heat in July. They used to bring all the stuff by loading it on donkeys from morning to evening without letting them rest even for 15 mins.

I asked the owner "did you pour them some water for drink" to which he replied in deny and told me that they can work for a full day without any water. I scolded him and told him to wait. I rushed inside and brought a bucket outside. I started pouring water by connecting the water pipe inside and asked him to wait and let the donkeys drink some water. It made me sad after seeing every donkey drink two buckets of water and they were still thirsty.

This is the level of abuse they face.

It is a myth that donkeys are stupid and stubborn. They are not as quick as horses. Whenever they face a situation, they take time to analyze it and decide to wether run away or stay. Donkeys are super cautious and they won't move and stop until they become sure of the situation. Therefore, some call this characteristic stupidity or stubbornness.

Donkeys are exceptionally intelligent and they have outstanding memories because they can remember and recall routes on which they have traveled once. My grandfather used to send his donkey alone from his farms with wheat bran loaded on it and it always reached home and never forgot its way.

Donkey is stereotyped as stupid almost around everywhere but it's not accurate. Because it is not even considered dumb and stupid in the top 20 animals as per google sites.

In the end,

It's sickening to see how some people like to torture this innocent animal that does not even react by barking or growling. I have no idea why some people develop this inhumane kind of behavior. But this must be stopped and we should start taking care of them. We should respect the rights of animals. And it's time to show some care to these harmless and poor creatures.

Thank you so much for reading my article.