A LOSING FIGHT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23669, 29 November 1938, Page 12

A LOSING FIGHT

THE DONKEY GOES ' Donkeys in England seem well on the way to becoming as. scarce as dancing bears. There used to be a donkey dairy in the Bays water section of London, and old people and sickly ' children whose doctors prescribed ~ donkey's milk used to get all they wanted at the equivalent of 4s a quart. But a few months ago, when a doctor wanted donkey|s milk for a child; he had to broadcast a nation-wide appeal before he could find it. London's costermongers used donkeys ; to haul their barrows, and 30 years. l ago . the annual donkey show held by Our ; Dumb Friends League attracted 150 entries. This year it attracted 23. Donkeys, it, appears, are now too slow for London's streets. They still survive on many beaches during the holiday season, when small children ride them. In the West of England and in Wales, , cockle and seaweed gatherers still use them. They are also found on the stepped streets of steep Clbvelly and in the Scilly Isles. Some attribute the recent rapid de-' cline in the number of donkeys to the economic war with the Irish Free State, during which there were heavy •" tariffs on all live stock. Eire, particularly the west of Eire, is still the great country for donkeys. l '