Children being weighed before donkey rides

Difficult.
It is being called fat shaming, but is he wrong to put the animal’s welfare first?

It could be argued that he is wrong to use donkeys for our entertainment, but if he is using them for that purpose, then considering the weight of the load is at least a step in the right direction.

Maybe a sign that says, If I think your child is too heavy then you can’t ride on my donkeys.
At many theme parks, there are signs saying If you are smaller than this bar, then you are not allowed on the ride. and people just accept that.

I don't have a problem with this at all. Good for him for putting the animals first. I always hate it when you see horses, ponies or donkeys with riders who are quite obviously too big or too heavy for them. I have always loved horses, ponies and donkeys - but I don't ride any more because I'm too overweight and wouldn't inflict that on the poor animals.

The limit is 6 stones, and no older than 10.

As the owner said, it was never an issue years ago, children were just not so ‘heavy’, ‘big boned’, ‘stocky’….(the latter are my comments, not his.)

But the meaning is the same.

He means fat. The parents are to blame.

I agree with Mollygo. A carefully worded sign with an age limit and reference to a maximum weight.
I certainly wouldn't like to see a child being embarrassed for being over the weight limit. However the welfare of the donkeys is the priority here.

I think it's fair.

Donkeys shouldn’t be out in the hot sun walking all day with
6 st on their back It should be banned completely

Would be nice if he had some option for a "test your weight before I do" so you had a chance to do it separately from the crowd first.

I applaud him for making sure his donkeys don’t carry too heavy a weight, but I would much rather he just let them graze in a field rather than being used for entertainment. I don’t approve of animals being exploited.

I'm with Bluebelle, its cruel and should be banned, it has been on my seafront, o donkeys for many years.

I think I would set a weight limit for the protection of the donkeys but take away the age limit... Then the argument could be made that they have maximum weight limit

We don't tell lifts off for fat shaming

BlueBelle

Donkeys shouldn’t be out in the hot sun walking all day with
6 st on their back It should be banned completely

Indeed, but while it is still allowed, at least this is a step in the right direction.

If you go to a riding stables you are weighed in your full clothing and hat before being accepted onto a horse. It is one of the welfare needs

So he's doing the right thing JaneJudge.

JaneJudge

If you go to a riding stables you are weighed in your full clothing and hat before being accepted onto a horse. It is one of the welfare needs

Thanks for that info JaneJudge. That’s my today’s new fact.

I am all for looking after the donkey.

He’s quite right, in my view.

A child could be anyone up to 18, at that age a child could be 16st so there always has been a weight/size limit.
There are many activities that have a weight/size/height limit. 6st sounds a sensible limit to me, children have to accept limits at some stage

I agree David49 - children have to accept limits at some stage (and so do parents about their offspring)

Germanshepherdsmum

I applaud him for making sure his donkeys don’t carry too heavy a weight, but I would much rather he just let them graze in a field rather than being used for entertainment. I don’t approve of animals being exploited.

So riding schools are bad then. This man and his family have been caring and working these donkeys,and their forebears since 1914. They are loved by the people of the area. They are fed, cared for, not beaten with sticks or made to climb steep hills with lazy people sat on them, or having to carry massive loads of timber, or coal, which is what they were first worked to carry.They have the best care and are loved by all. They are not out all hours, time is limited, and Donkeys have their own way of coping in the heat, after all they originated in Africa, and there's always water available.

I know only too well how equines are abused throughout the world. The fact that these donkeys are not beaten or used as they may have been is no excuse for the way that they are used today. Being loved is not enough. Being given a good life free from abuse is something else entirely. Perhaps you should be a supporter of charities such as SPANA or World Horse Welfare to learn more about how donkeys and other equines cope (or don’t) in the heat.

If the weighing makes a few parents of fat children think twice about stuffing them with more junk, it might well be a good thing. But I doubt it’ll have any such effect.

We have a donkey charter here in Blackpool.

Fat shaming is a good thing if it makes parents think feeding their kids a bad diet is child abuse.