Palo Alto ponies up major cash to help cover medical bills for the world’s most famous donkey
Palo Alto Mayor Greer Stone’s plan to give $10,000 to a local donkey was met with some pushback during the most recent Palo Alto City Council meeting on May 20.
The donkey, a Jerusalem burro named Perry, lives in a patch of grass in Palo Alto’s Barron Park neighborhood called Bol Park. The animal famously posed for photos, video and sketches used to model Donkey from DreamWorks’ Academy Award-winning 2001 film “Shrek.” Now 29, Perry is dealing with several age-related conditions that have skyrocketed the cost of his care, which is entirely managed by neighborhood volunteers. The Barron Park donkeys (there are two others in addition to Perry) incur costs of about $25,000 a year, but an additional $15,000 was added to the bill this year due to nonbasic medical care for Perry.
“I myself — when I taught at Gunn (High School) — took some classes over there and the students just absolutely adored them,” Stone said. “So it is a great opportunity for well-being in the community as well to be able to interact with these wonderful animals.”
The $10,000 grant, to be matched by the Barron Park Donkey Project, was met with pushback from Council Member Greg Tanaka, who called it “irresponsible.”
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