On the night of April 30, a donkey named Prince was killed by a train in a railway tunnel near Cologne, Germany. An unidentified person apparently stole the animal before deliberately steering him towards the tunnel.According to the German newspaper, Bonn General Anzeiger, a second donkey, who was also on the scene, escaped death, but suffers from psychological trauma.
Ich bitte hier um Eure Mithilfe!! In der Nacht zum 1. Mai kam es auf der ICE Trasse zum Flughafen auf der Höhe von Gut...Publié par Ulli Neumann sur lundi 1 mai 2017
The owner of the two animals, Jürgen Neumann, organizes donkey rides every year around a local monument, which is why the animals were in the area. The brother of the owner, Ulli Neumann, expressed his confusion on Facebook:
The night of the first of May, reckless people opened the donkey's enclosure and drove them a few hundred yards from their onto the tracks. One of the donkeys, hit by the train, was killed.
Source: Focus/Mediengruppe M. DuMont Schauberg GmbH & Co. KG
Bodega, the second donkey wasn't hurt but had to witness the terrible scene. After the animal's rescue by police, Ulli explained that the donkey presented signs of serious psychological shock.[caption id="attachment_10561" align="alignnone" width="2200"]
One of Germany's high speed trains. Source: webmoritz[/caption]After having searched the tunnel, authorities launched an investigation to find the culprit. That section of railway was initially closed to trains, but was reopened around midnight. Ulli described his theory:
I'm at the same time shocked, sad and angry. I think that one or more people wanted to play a prank coming back from a night out.
R.I.P. Prince ?Wir möchten uns für diesen sagenhaften Zuspruch bedanken! Über 10 tsd mal geteilt!Danke dem WDR für die...Publié par Ulli Neumann sur mercredi 3 mai 2017
He then turned to the public and called on them to find someone who could have been a witness. According to him, the idea that it could have been an accident is improbable:
The animals would never go alone on that path. The gravel and the sounds of the trains would have stopped them. Who is capable of doing such a thing? Donkeys are sensitive and intelligent animals, and they have been part of our family for years.
The police are investigating video surveillance cameras to try and find out more from this sordid tragedy.You can watch the report (in German) from the channel WDR below:
You can read up more about animal cruelty laws in the United States and in Canada here.
Cover image: Focus/Ulli Neumann
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