Stray donkeys become growing problem for Dallas County

Dallas, TX - Deputy Paul Stroud can hardly keep up with the county's stray donkey problem.  "On average, I may have four or five donkeys at a time," Dep. Stroud said. "Right now, I have 15 to 20. It's hard to get rid of them."

He runs the Dallas County Sheriff Department's livestock unit and spends a lot of time rounding up stray donkeys.

"They're so overpopulated right now, there's donkeys just everywhere," Stroud said.

Some were pets, he explained, others kept coyotes away from livestock.

But ever since hay and feed tripled in value, owners started letting them go because they're too expensive to keep.

Deputy Stroud's job is picking them up from fields, on roads, even in Oak Cliff's Kiest Park and Cottonwood Creek Preserve, a county park in Wilmer.

The stray donkeys now cost county taxpayers an extra $2,000 a month just for feed, Stroud revealed.

Last year, donkeys would sell for $5 or $10 each at auctions. But now auctions no longer take the animals. Donkeys are overpopulated and worthless, experts say.

Stroud said that has led to a lot of strays, not just in Dallas, but across Texas.

In a court order last week, Dallas County Commissioners called stray donkeys "a serious problem" and got a national rescue to take the animals off taxpayers' hands.

"Oh this is epic," said Mark Meyers, Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue. "Besides the 600 that have already come into my Texas facility, I have a waiting list of over 300 donkeys that need to get in here. Most of those are under threat of being shot, because people aren't going to let them starve over the winter."

Dallas' donkeys will end up at a rescue near San Angelo.

But with winter approaching and hay prices surging, Stroud doubts these pens will empty out for too long.

Source: WFAA