Teens Charged With Shooting Amish Family’s Pet Donkey To Death

Three teen boys in Pennsylvania are under arrest for shooting and killing a beloved pet donkey on the farm of an Amish family.

The boys were charged on Thursday with killing the donkey, who was known to the Yoder family as Eeyore. The animal’s owners said the donkey was a beloved part of the family, with the children taking turns riding him and neighborhood children stopping to pet him on their way to school.

This week three teens from Montogmery admitted to shooting the donkey more than a dozen times. Two of the boys are 15 and one is 16, and the group has been charged with cruelty to animals and possession of a firearm by a minor.

In an interview with police, the teens each admitted to shooting the donkey six times until it died. The shooting was part of a crime spree that included shooting several deer and smashing mail boxes with a baseball bat. There may still be additional charges from the Pennsylvania Game Commission for shooting deer outside of season.

This is not the only bit of donkey-related news making the rounds this week. In a much happier story, a rare donkey-zebra hybrid known as zonkey was born in Mexico this week. This comes after another zonkey was born in Italy last year, one that was the result of a forbidden love story.

“Owner Serena Aglietti built a fence to separate the two animals. But somehow, in the golden light of a field in Florence, love flowered,” a report about the Italian zonkey noted. “[The zonkey named] Ippo is the only one of his kind in Italy.”

The Mexican zonkey born on Monday has been named Khumba and is regarded as quite the rare feat.

The Amish family said they are devastated that their pet donkey was shot to death, but plan on getting another donkey. Mrs. Yoder said the kids want to name their new pet Eeyore.