Principal Cancels Cruelty to Donkeys, Teaches Lesson in Kindness

January 2008

Students from Bremen High School in Midlothian, Illinois, contacted PETA with concerns about a “donkey basketball” game scheduled to take place at the school. PETA immediately contacted the school principal regarding the cruelty involved in these games. Hauled around in cramped and stuffy trailers, the donkeys are denied proper exercise. Food and water are often withheld before games in an effort to prevent unsightly “accidents.” They are pulled, pushed, and yelled at and are sometimes kicked, hit, or scared into moving on the basketball court. PETA honored Bremen High School’s principal with our Humane Educator Award because he took PETA and the students’ concerns to heart, canceled the game, and used the situation as an opportunity to teach compassion to the entire student body.