Pin the sail on the donkey? Russian prosecutors investigate ‘cruel’ parasailing donkey stunt
By APTuesday, July 20, 2010
Russian prosecutors probe parasailing donkey
MOSCOW — Authorities in Russia are opening an animal cruelty probe into a weekend stunt on a beach in southern Russia in which a donkey parasailed high over the surf.
Amateur video footage showed men attaching parasail harnesses to the trembling mule. The English-language Kremlin news channel Russia Today reported that sunbathers were distressed at the sight of the flying donkey, which brayed in fear as it glided above the bay for half an hour.
Russia Today reported that the donkey was shell-shocked but survived.
Reports said the donkey flight was a promotional stunt. Employees of a leisure firm in the Krasnodar region village of Golubitskaya, on the Azov Sea, could face two years in prison if they are charged and convicted of animal cruelty.
