By Jeff Poole
Review Managing Editor
Published: May 1, 2008

Last week, we published a number of letters to the editor critical of the recent donkey basketball fundraiser. In the days that followed, we heard lots of comments from local folks who defended the event and criticized those who wrote in as “not local,” “not there” and “not right.”
This week, a couple of our readers have responded, citing nothing but positive experiences from the fundraising event.
The event was organized as a benefit by the After Prom Committee. They contracted with Buckeye Donkey Ball Co. in Marengo, Ohio. We encourage you to Google them for your own edification.
The company brought eight donkeys to Orange and local teams of law enforcement officers, students, firefighters and school faculty did their best to stay on the backs of the donkeys and demonstrate the most fundamental of basketball skills--putting the ball through the hoop.
Needless to say, the games Saturday were low scoring.
Donkey basketball was once a staple in Orange County. Many of us remember games from our youth. That tradition faded, though some neighboring counties continued similar events.
When the idea was revived this year, we were curious to see what the response would be.
Judging from the hundreds of people in the stands and the general mirth of the participants, it could easily be said that locally, donkey basketball was a success.
A significant sum of money was raised to support the local after prom party and organizers anticipate holding the event again.
Yet, opposite this space last week, five letters decried the practice, suggesting our community is backward, ignorant and abusive.
We attended the event in good faith eager to perform our journalistic responsibility to report items of general interest to the community. Clearly, there was general interest and the photos on the back page of last week’s paper supported that.
But part of that journalistic responsibility is to see if something inappropriate was going on, if the animals were mistreated or exploited.
We’d also heard there might be some protesters at the event and were curious to see what they had to say. There weren’t any.
Ideally, we’d ask the donkeys themselves. But, given their stubborn nature, we’re not sure they’d talk if they could.
The donkeys didn’t seem to be mistreated, though we’re hardly animal experts. They seemed a bit small for some of the participants, but again, we’re not qualified to determine that definitively.
We searched online for articles and complaints about the company and found only a couple of items that reported communities that had cancelled similar events because of public pressure.
When we boil it down, donkey basketball doesn’t seem to be much different than the circus. Many of us locally ask our horses to clear jumps when they might rather be in the field munching grass. We breed dogs because we love animals, but also because it’s a lucrative business. It becomes a question of where we stand on the role of animals in our society.
We can’t, in good conscience, chomp on a fried chicken leg, sop up sausage gravy or eat a hearty ribeye and at the say time righteously say donkey basketball is wrong.
It’s got to be either all or nothing.