Way Off Topic...Stupid Should Hurt or How to Kill a Donkey

[Echo4v]

Firstly, I know this is off topic but since this is the only forum I hang out in I figured I'd post it here...If the mods don't want it they can do as they please.


So I live a couple miles from a livestock auction barn and the owners of the barn occasionally end up with some sort of equines. Whenever the get them they train them to pull a wagon and then sell them. Not a bad idea for a side business right?

Well recently they have got hold of a pair of donkeys and they have these donkeys pulling an amish built wagon ( it looks like the wagon that they used for a chuck wagon in the movie the cowboys). The problem is that the people are evidently just plain stupid. They drive this wagon on blacktop roads ( two and four lane roads) at night with no running lights at all. They do have one of those emergency reflective triangles nailed to the back of the wagon.

I saw them a couple of weeks ago at 9 pm on a hwy ( in 55 zone) with only the reflector on their wagon. They told me they got caught out later than planned due to some thing or other ( I forget why now) so I followed them home with my flashers on. I own horses and have for 25 yrs so I understand unexpected things happen right, so I helped my neighbor out. I did tell them their wagon was hard to see in the dark and they needed lights on the back.

Well to make a long story longer, I ran into that wagon again last night. Good news, they had a light on the back of the wagon. Bad news, it was a very tiny (solar charged) sidewalk light like you stick in the ground next to your sidewalk at the house. More bad news 9 pm driving the wagon on a state road ( in a 45 zone) ford ranger came over a hill (just in front of me) and the wagon was on the other side of the hill.

The guy in the ranger rear ended the wagon so hard it knocked the donkeys down and the wagon ran over one and drug her a good 15 ft down the road into the ditch. Ranger was totaled, the motor was through the firewall and dash and in the floorboard and seat of the truck.

When I got there I naturally got out and every single one of the people were looking at the damn wagon. Nobody had even thought about the donkeys. First I asked if anyone was hurt, they said no. I said "good cause this mule damn sure is, get over here and lets get the wagon off him" I later saw they were donkeys and the wagon was on a jenny (female) I then yelled to my wife to call 911 and commenced to do what I could for the animals. Which wasn't much.

So out comes the Sodbuster Jr my wife just got me and I went to town, trying to see just how fast I could ruin $500 worth of pulling harness. Got the donkey that could still stand cut loose and gave him to a guy to get out of the way, then (after I crawled under the wagon and untangled her legs) we lifted the wagon and cut any straps connecting her to the wagon. Once we got the wagon off I cut her harness off (she couldn't get up) so we could assess the damage. Everything looked ok but she was scraped and cut up pretty badly. We let her rest a little then tried to get her up. She could get up to a sitting position (like a dog sits) but she was sitting way back on her pelvis like part of her back bone was on the ground.

By this time my wife and son were crying and the EMS were there so I gave my name and number to police officer and told him I had to get my son home. I figured either her hip or back was broke and she'd have to be put down and I didn't want my wife to see it. As I said, the auction barn is just down the road from my house so I'll be stopping by this afternoon to see what I can find out about the donkeys. No I don't have any pictures but I'll try to get some today when I go to check on the donkeys.

Again, sorry it's not W&SS but I needed to get it off my chest.
David

 

[kgd]

I think it is an appropriate topic. You handled an emergency and talked about safety issues. That really is too bad about the injured animal. It must have been absolutely traumatized by the whole thing. Also - I almost thought you were going to go down the road of attempting to euthanize the injured animal with your sod-buster. I am sure the heck glad you didn't!!!

Let us know how it worked out in the end.

 

[GregY]

That's rough. I hate it when people are irresponsible and others - the guy in the pickup, the poor animals- suffer.

 

[Skimo]

good on ya, you offered assistance. too bad vehicles got ruined and that jenny got hurt.

 

[Echo4v]

I think it is an appropriate topic. You handled an emergency and talked about safety issues. That really is too bad about the injured animal. It must have been absolutely traumatized by the whole thing. Also - I almost thought you were going to go down the road of attempting to euthanize the injured animal with your sod-buster. I am sure the heck glad you didn't!!!
Let us know how it worked out in the end.

I'm glad you brought that up, one guy who stopped offered a machete to do the job but I told him he wasn't going to put her in more pain especially with my wife and son watching and there were two state patrol officers standing there with pistols.

I have seen people try to kill injured deer with knives and in my opinion it's just foolishness (even though they had the best intentions) it usually hurts the animal more than they are already hurting and doesn't work ( you'd be surprised how many people can tell you where the heart is but not the jugular) so then the animal is injured and stabbed and still in pain.

David

 

[Tuxdad]

Dang ! I hope the cops wrote them up and charged them steeply for not having proper lights on that wagon, and endangering the animals... I live in amish country as well, and if the cops catch any horse and buggy or wagon or bicycle on the roads at night without proper lighting they get stopped ticketed, and the aspca gets called to haul off the animals, and the wagon gets taken to their home on a flatbed.. ALL of this comes out of their(the amish) pockets.... The cops are stric here because of a rather bad accident a few yrs back involving an amish family, and some kids after a barn party of some sort, and a tractor trailer... Won't go into details but the only survivor was the trucker..

 

[hollowdweller]

Poor donkey. My donkey never has to pull anything and just roams loose on the hollow all summer.

 

[stingray4540]

::RANT ON::

HAHA, you don't live around very many Amish do you?!

No the cops won't wright them up, because it is a part of there religion! In fact they get away with A LOT because of there "religion".

They don't have to pay for license plates or registration, and they don't have to get drivers licenses, so they contribute nothing to the state for keeping up the roads, yet THEY DO THE MOST DAMAGE! Any road that gets regular buggy use is tore up.

And yes, they do not have anything on there buggies other than a reflective triangle and maybe sometimes two small red lights, and they are on 55mph roads all the time.

In Amish communities were you see them a lot, car drivers (Yankees) get used to them, and there aren't that many accidents, but still every once in a while, someone not paying attention will come over a small hill in the road and cream a buggy, splinters everywere, usually dead horse and dead Amish (winkees).

P.S. I Lived in and Amish community for 6 years in Ohio, so I've learned to hate there religion and them in general, although individually they are usually really nice people and I had some good Amish friends. Oh, and my wifes parents are ex-Amish, as is her whole family.


Tuxdad - what community are you in? Good for your local PD for cracking down on them, but that is the exception, not the rule when it comes to amish communities. Especially since they usually don't live in towns that have PDs.


::RANT OFF:: For now, unless you want to here more about Amish... Or California gun laws...

 

[Echo4v]

Stingray, I grew up around the Amish (well actually Menninites) and in that area there were hardly ever car vs buggy wrecks because people know to look out for the buggies. Where I live now, the last thing anyone expects to be in their lane over the next hill is a buggy.

I also wanted to say I agree about the damage to roads, that's why hardly any of the roads around the Amish where I grew up were paved. As a matter of fact I was there last month and guess what, the state still won't pave their roads.

David

 

[Tuxdad]

::RANT ON::

HAHA, you don't live around very many Amish do you?!

No the cops won't wright them up, because it is a part of there religion! In fact they get away with A LOT because of there "religion".

They don't have to pay for license plates or registration, and they don't have to get drivers licenses, so they contribute nothing to the state for keeping up the roads, yet THEY DO THE MOST DAMAGE! Any road that gets regular buggy use is tore up.

And yes, they do not have anything on there buggies other than a reflective triangle and maybe sometimes two small red lights, and they are on 55mph roads all the time.

In Amish communities were you see them a lot, car drivers (Yankees) get used to them, and there aren't that many accidents, but still every once in a while, someone not paying attention will come over a small hill in the road and cream a buggy, splinters everywere, usually dead horse and dead Amish (winkees).

P.S. I Lived in and Amish community for 6 years in Ohio, so I've learned to hate there religion and them in general, although individually they are usually really nice people and I had some good Amish friends. Oh, and my wifes parents are ex-Amish, as is her whole family.


Tuxdad - what community are you in? Good for your local PD for cracking down on them, but that is the exception, not the rule when it comes to amish communities. Especially since they usually don't live in towns that have PDs.


::RANT OFF:: For now, unless you want to here more about Amish... Or California gun laws...

I live in Pa.,.. Here the amish live in and outside of town, and we have a big problem with the kids on their bikes.. The unwritten rule if you drive a motor vehicle here is "if you see one kid on a bike at night with his blinky light on, bet on there being 8 or so with him, with them off".. This is very true on the back roads, but they know to turn them on about a half mile before town, because the locals and farmers will call them in if they see them... I had my worst scare on my way home from work one night, had to swerve into a cornfield, because of a buch of amish kids were riding with no headlights or tail lights.. The folks in buggies are much better at following the law and putting lights on there buggies and all, but the kids are now the biggest concern.. We even have the state troopers, now getting involved... They now will stop them and ticket, and in some cases take them back to their folks, and drop them off without their bikes which will be held at local JM or JOP, where they'll be fined..

Just trying to keep them alive is all.. After all, no parent should have to bury their kid..

I guess it all depends on the communities where you live.. The mayors of our 3 neighboring towns had that tractor trailer accident as the final straw.. The amish elders were against it at first and fought hard, but they were the ones looking bad when they counted up all the kids who had been hit or had a close call with a car, as well as videos showing all the close calls in town and what not..

 

[stingray4540]

As a matter of fact I was there last month and guess what, the state still won't pave their roads.

David

Lol, good for them, it's a waste of money. None of the back roads in the Amish neighborhoods were I used to live were paved, but they still regularly use the main roads that all the cars use.

Yeah, like I said, most people were used to it so accidents were far and few between and usually caused by out of towners. If you're not used to it or expecting it, it's almost impossible to avoid, especially if you aren't used to spotting triangles, it doesn't even register for drivers who aren't used to seeing them until it's too late.

 

[stingray4540]

I had my worst scare on my way home from work one night, had to swerve into a cornfield, because of a buch of amish kids were riding wit no headlights..

That's just stupid, I have no pity for people competing for the Darwin award.

Edited: I'm a cold hearted Bastid, so no sense in starting an argument about humanity. I'll just admit it now and keep the rest of my thoughts to myself.

 

[hollowdweller]

::RANT ON::

HAHA, you don't live around very many Amish do you?!

No the cops won't wright them up, because it is a part of there religion! In fact they get away with A LOT because of there "religion".

They don't have to pay for license plates or registration, and they don't have to get drivers licenses, so they contribute nothing to the state for keeping up the roads, yet THEY DO THE MOST DAMAGE! Any road that gets regular buggy use is tore up.

And yes, they do not have anything on there buggies other than a reflective triangle and maybe sometimes two small red lights, and they are on 55mph roads all the time.

In Amish communities were you see them a lot, car drivers (Yankees) get used to them, and there aren't that many accidents, but still every once in a while, someone not paying attention will come over a small hill in the road and cream a buggy, splinters everywere, usually dead horse and dead Amish (winkees).

P.S. I Lived in and Amish community for 6 years in Ohio, so I've learned to hate there religion and them in general, although individually they are usually really nice people and I had some good Amish friends. Oh, and my wifes parents are ex-Amish, as is her whole family.


Tuxdad - what community are you in? Good for your local PD for cracking down on them, but that is the exception, not the rule when it comes to amish communities. Especially since they usually don't live in towns that have PDs.


::RANT OFF:: For now, unless you want to here more about Amish... Or California gun laws...

You sound like a friend of mine who used to live in PA. She can go on for hours (negatively) about the Amish.

 

[stingray4540]

You sound like a friend of mine who used to live in PA. She can go on for hours (negatively) about the Amish.

Most anyone who has lived amongst them for any length of time can...

Don't get me wrong, there are some nice things I can say about them too, mostly the stuff that people think about when they hear Amish but don't know anything else about them. Those things are true, but there are many other attributes of the Amish that will rub most people the wrong way.

 

[Echo4v]

Thought I'd give you folks the update...

Here is what is left of the wagon

What you can't see is that both axles are completely broken free of the box. The seats are broken free from the box and the springs front and back are broken.

I went by on my way home friday and talked to the guy who was driving the wagon when it got hit. He confirmed that the jenny had to be put down and he let me see the jack. Now were talking almost 20 hours after the accident and the Jack was still so scared he wouldn't get within touching distance and I could still see a lot of white in his eyes. Physically he looks like he'll heal up fine, mentally I think he's fried.

It seems like the wagon and the donkeys absorbed all the impact because the guys in the wreck all went back to work on Friday.

David

 

[Echo4v]

Most anyone who has lived amongst them for any length of time can...

Don't get me wrong, there are some nice things I can say about them too, mostly the stuff that people think about when they hear Amish but don't know anything else about them. Those things are true, but there are many other attributes of the Amish that will rub most people the wrong way.

You want to hear some negative things about Amish talk to someone who has converted out of the religion. I served in the U.S.M.C. with a lady who converted out of the Amish religion and enlisted as a truck driver. Never heard anyone speak as negatively about the Amish as she did.

David

 

[Tuxdad]

Sorry to hear that about both of the animals... It's gonna take a lot of time to get that male settled down, but i doubt it'd be good for pulling on the roads again.. I'd probably have a heart attack if it even got close to one..

I had to stop yesterday to help an amish couple with their horse, it slipped in some loose gravel, and went down pretty hard.. Was scraped up pretty good, but seemed ok.. After we got it up on its feet, it limped a bit but seemed none the worse for wear, but I saw it in town later and it had developed a pretty bad hobble, but they were stopping at at the local vets in town.. 'm hoping for the best ... he amish are pretty hard on their animals at times..

That wagon, the cops around here would have a field day with that !!

Tux

 

[stingray4540]

You want to hear some negative things about Amish talk to someone who has converted out of the religion. I served in the U.S.M.C. with a lady who converted out of the Amish religion and enlisted as a truck driver. Never heard anyone speak as negatively about the Amish as she did.

David

OH, believe me, I know. My wife's parents are ex-Amish, as well as all 31 of her aunts and uncles.
They converted when my wife was like 2 years old or something.


At least that was a big burly wagon, and the guys in it didn't get hurt too bad. usually a car vs. a traditional Amish buggy has more casualties than one horse...


P.S. Lol at the car tires on the wagon.:thumbup:

 

[Echo4v]

Yeah, the car tires on wagons are something I didn't see a whole lot of when I lived in KY, in GA they are on more than half the wagons I see. This wagon also has car brakes (drum brakes) on it with hydrolic lines and all. It was not a cheap wagon at all.

David