Three donkeys in a California park, together with one who served as a reference for Eddie Murphy’s character in Shrek, have been awarded a $10,000 authorities grant.
Mayor Greer Stone and the Palo Alto Metropolis Council have pledged to contribute an identical grant to assist pay for the care of the donkeys in Bol Park.
The burros live out their golden years in a one-acre pasture, a lot to the delight of holiday makers, and even boast a celeb amongst their ranks.
Pericles, or ‘Perry,’ was studied by animators from the primary Shrek film as they sought to look at how donkeys transfer.
However he’s simply days away from his thirtieth birthday, and as he and his buddies get older, their care progressively turns into dearer.
Three donkeys in Palo Alto’s Bol Park – together with 29-year-old Perry, who served because the reference for Eddie Murphy’s character in Shrek – have been awarded a $10,000 grant
Perry was chosen because the mannequin for Donkey in 2001, however the animators solely donated $75 to the pasture, which is overseen by volunteers
Donkeys can stay properly into their thirties whereas in captivity. The park additionally acquired 15-year-old April final 12 months, additional elevating prices.
Their care is completely supported by donations from the group and the help of volunteer donkey handlers.
Fundamental care normally prices over $25,000 per 12 months – not together with medical bills, which may push the overall invoice to over $40,000.
Regardless of the donkeys’ centuries-long historical past within the park, the grant contribution confronted pushback from officers like Councilmember Greg Tanaka, who cited a looming price range deficit.
Fortunately, the donation comes from the Metropolis Council’s contingency fund, which has $77,000 left to spend earlier than July 1. Group members are additionally urged to donate earlier than June 23 to qualify for a problem grant.
Animals within the park dates again to the Thirties. Their pasture was as soon as a part of a farm owned by the Bol household, who fled Europe amid Hitler’s rise to energy. Patriarch Cornelius Bol was the inventor of the mercury vapor lamp.
Bol Park formally opened to the general public in April 1974, and the donkeys have been both offered or given away within the following years till just one, named Mickey, remained.
Josina Bol watched over Mickey after her husband handed away, and as soon as she fell ailing, a number of neighbors stepped in to assist. They continued to look after Mickey after Josina’s dying in 1996.
The $10,000 donation comes from the Metropolis Council’s contingency fund, which has $77,000 left to spend earlier than July 1
Perry, whose full identify is Pericles, got here to the pasture in 1997 as a companion for an additional donkey. He and his buddies, April and Buddy, take part in group occasions and take weekly walks by way of the park
The grant comes as Perry and his buddies proceed to get older, sending the price of their care skyrocketing
Perry joined Mickey within the pasture a 12 months later. He had been donated by a Woodside girl who had stored him as companion for her horses. Perry and Mickey have been inseparable till Mickey’s dying in 1998.
Perry grieved as soon as extra when his different pal, Niner, handed away in 2016. Niner had arrived shortly earlier than Mickey’s dying, and Perry was all the time at his facet, even accompanying him throughout journeys to the hospital.
Perry was ultimately joined by April and 24-year-old Buddy, forming the enduring trio as they’re recognized right now.
In 2001, Perry was chosen because the mannequin for Eddie Murphy’s character within the first Shrek movie.
A gaggle of animators from Palo-Alto primarily based Pacific Information Photographs, which was later acquired by DreamWorks, paid a go to to the park to take images of the then-five-year-old burro.
His actions have been later included into Donkey’s design.
Nonetheless, the corporate donated solely $75 to the pasture, and there was no point out of Perry within the credit.
Since then, he and his buddies have acquired loads of love from the group, collaborating in Halloween parades and delighting passersby throughout their weekly walks by way of the park.
They’re overseen by the Barron Park Donkey Undertaking, an offshoot of the Palo Alto Humane Society.
