To be able to know approximately how many mules and donkeys/hinnys there are in Canada would be valuable information. For veterinarians, for industry participants, breeders, rescuers, club & show organizations, universities and general interest groups; many would like to have a fairly accurate idea of the numbers of long ears in Canada.
I was very surprised when I started the magazine how many people have hybrids and donkeys. Including but far reaching beyond the registered animals, there are so many more mules, hinnys and donkeys than most can imagine.
I was approached by a long time donkey and mule advocate named Paula Pick, who is known throughout the industry as one of the owners of Kicking Donkey Products. Paula has been commissioned by Sandra Pady of the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada to gather statistics on the number of mules, donkey and hinnys in Canada. I have climbed aboard to help with the gathering of this information. Once the results have been gathered to the best of everyone’s ability, I will share with you how many long ears we have tracked down. I look forward to working with both Paula and the Sanctuary.
Below is a survey form. Please photocopy and pass on to as many long ear owners as you can think of. Submit your information by March 15th. If you know of other donkeys and mules, please forward that info to Paula so she can include those numbers too.
No worries about farm/owner information - the only reason she needs that is to insure that she is not duplicating in numbers. All Paula is going to keep for publishing purposes is the numbers of donkeys/hinnys/mules.
I encourage everyone to participate in this 2010 Census. The more long ear owners that can submit their information, the more accurate the Census will be. I look forward to publishing the results of this survey in the coming months.
