A 2-year-old wild donkey stumbled alongside her herd in Riverside County — a bright blue arrow protruding from her right side.
It’s a sight that’s become all too common, and alarming, for local activists, who say there have been at least a half-dozen burro bow attacks in the Moreno Valley area recently.
“A lot of these animals are wounded and if we can’t get them to the hospital, they could get infected and they could suffer,” said Chad Cheatham, vice president of DonkeyLand, a rescue organization. “So it’s even more horrific to think about.”
Moreno Valley Animal Services and the Riverside County Department of Animal Services responded to capture the latest arrow-struck donkey and bring her in for emergency veterinary treatment.
Volunteers with DonkeyLand have nicknamed her Cupid.
Riverside County is home to a large wild donkey population, and it’s not uncommon for the animals to be accidentally injured in car accidents or run-ins with fences, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. However, a disturbing pattern of intentional attacks on the animals began in June, authorities said.
The first was the weekend of June 14, when a young burro was found grazing with an arrow in her side along Pigeon Pass Road in Moreno Valley, according to information DonkeyLand posted on Facebook. The second burro was found shot by the same make and color arrow near the same road the following Monday.
Several more burros have since been reported shot along Hidden Springs Drive, Greenridge Drive and Reche Canyon Road.
The youngest were two burros estimated to be two to four months old, according to DonkeyLand volunteers. Both were shot in their backsides.
“We were unable to find the little foals. And several of the other ones, we tried unsuccessfully to catch and treat. It’s difficult because they live in the wild,” Cheatham said. “It’s very possible that they died.”
The arrows used in the attacks were broadheads, according to DonkeyLand, a style traditionally used for hunting.
For Cupid, the most recent animal wounded, veterinarians found that the arrow punctured her right lung and nearly struck her left.
The arrowhead painfully “scrapes against the underside of her shoulder blade every time she moves,” according to DonkeyLand. The force of the arrow’s impact also chipped off part of the donkey’s shoulder bone.
“It seems like a sport, that they want to go hunting maybe. And it’s not like they kill them instantly,” Cheatham said.
Local residents, who call the animals “gentle” and “harmless,” have expressed outrage online over the attacks.
“Most of the residents, I’d say 99% of them, love the burros. They’re part of the community,” Cheatham said. “A lot of people that we know bought houses specifically in this area because the burros were here.”
The identity of the archer, or archers, remains unknown. But Cheatham says the Moreno Valley community is banding together to keep an eye out and share information.
“Everybody’s being watchful,” Cheatham said. “Because when you think of the mind of somebody who does that, if they could hurt an animal, they could hurt a human.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Riverside County Department of Animal Services at (951) 358-7387, or the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station at (951) 955-2400.
“They’ve been here for over 70 years and they roam between the canyons and they’re just so sweet,” Cheatham said of the burros. “It baffles all of us as animal lovers. Who could do this?”
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