Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Oh, hey, it's that classroom desk chair that cracks your back perfectly. This is Allie Ward. This is Ologies. This is a show in which we cover one ology every episode. And friends, I know that you love donkeys already because we truly got like a tidal wave of questions for this one and happened to chat with the loveliest donkey expert we could find.
This is such a chill conversation and cuddly and calming and informative. It was like sitting on a covered porch with a tea and
Chapter 2: What interesting facts about donkeys are shared in this episode?
and a plate of cookies you just keep eating while they talked about interesting donkey facts. And this ologist is the director of research and operational support at the nonprofit The Donkey Sanctuary, and has been there for over two decades researching, caring for, and advocating for donkeys.
They're an author on dozens of donkey and mule research papers, as well as having a microbiological background, which we talk about. They were just made for this work, and they love it. So we'll meet them in a minute, but thank you first to patrons of the show who make it possible. You too can join for as little as a dollar a month.
And for free, we also have shorter kid-friendly episodes of Ologies in their own feed. They're called Smologies, S-M-O-L-O-G-I-E-S. Found wherever you get your podcasts. Ologies merch is available for your body at ologiesmerch.com. And you can always support... ologies by just leaving us a review, which helps so much. It gets to show up in the charts and gets it seen.
Each week, I kick this off by reading a recent one, such as this from Lori2474, who called ologies charming, educational, and highly addictive. Treat yourself to an engaging conversation with experts at a level that doesn't belittle you or leave you lost in jargon. Also, right amount of swearing. I appreciate that, and that is affirming. Okay, asinology comes from the Latin word asinus.
It means ass, which means donkey. Donkey itself may come from an old word meaning dull brown, but that's been debated. But ass, as in your ass is gonna love this episode, came much later, and that was derived from the British arse, which came from a word for tail, a rump. We do also discuss rumps in this episode, and I think you'll appreciate it.
So take a long drink of water, saddle up for big ears, milky baths, emperor gossip, squats versus donkey kicks, how much weight can a beast of burden bear, mule genetics, zoo sexism, how to care for a donkey, where to pet a donkey, what their noises mean. And heads up, we do have donkey noises in here, so do not be startled. They're happy donkeys.
As well as what a donkey eats, what's up with those teeth, donkeys on film, and busting so much flim flam. with researcher, director of research and operational support and nonprofit, The Donkey Sanctuary, friend to donkeys worldwide and asinologist, Dr. Faith Burden.
Faith Burden, and she, her.
You are all the way in the UK.
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Chapter 3: How did donkeys become domesticated and where are they originally from?
White coats and centrifuges became a bit tiresome. So I decided to take some time out and go and see what donkeys had to offer.
And she has a lot to offer donkeys, clearly, with over 50 published papers, including hits such as Objective Assessment of Chronic Pain in Donkeys Using the Donkey Chronic Pain Scale. And belief in animal sentience and effective owner attitudes are linked to positive working equid welfare across six countries.
And the welfare and access to veterinary health services of mules working in the mountain trails of Nepal... Also, she's got papers about the donkey skin trade. She knows her donkey stuff on a global level and on a micro level.
And a lot of my early work with the Donkey Sanctuary was looking at infectious diseases, parasitology, nutrition. So it drew on much of my background, but then really the sort of behavior and welfare science overtook. And as they say, the rest is history.
Well, you mentioned how misunderstood donkeys are. And babe, that's why we got you here. Amazing. Let's talk donkey myths. Because so many people are like, I know Eeyore or Shrek, but no idea what they're really like, or they just know them as beasts of burden. So what's like some big flim flam that you have to bust as a doctor donkey?
Donkeys are stubborn or stupid. We've all heard those, kicks like a mule or stubborn as a donkey. Donkeys are not stupid. And anyone that thinks a donkey's stupid has simply been outwitted by them. That's what normally happens. So we always judge donkeys as by what we know about horses.
We're all bought up with Western films and horses in battle and they're fast and incredibly expressive animals, aren't they? And then we think the donkey is like a small horse with big ears and we can't understand why it doesn't go when we ask it to. We can't understand why it says no. And actually, donkeys don't run away from problems. That's part of their evolutionary background.
Donkeys will stand and they will consider what's in front of them. So they will think, is it in my best interest to run away? And I might do that. But more often what happens is they either freeze or they fight, which again is that whole kind of misconception that donkeys can be quite feisty, they can kick. It's absolutely natural behaviour for the species that they are.
They're calm, they're thoughtful.
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Chapter 4: What are the unique characteristics of donkey communication?
But my husband is a whole different situation.
Yeah.
But it is that lifelong connection with donkeys and mules that they become part of a family. And I think that's what's so important when we see how donkeys and mules serve animals.
communities but particularly families all over the world they are a really important part of that family setup you know they might bring the drinking water they might take the kids to school they'll help harvest the crops and they are just such a valued family member and that works well for the donkey and for the the family right
I mean, everyone, you have a dog or a cat and they're a family member. My dog doesn't even do anything other than just be cute. And that's fine. That's all she needs to do.
And that's fine, isn't it? Yes.
Yeah, absolutely. And if she were to come back with groceries, I'd be like, wow, that's even better. Can I ask you some listener questions? Please. Yeah. Love to. Oh my God. Okay. They had 1 million. But before we ask just a fraction of those 1 million, let's donate to a charity of faith's choice.
And this week, it's, of course, the Donkey Sanctuary, which seeks to create a world where every donkey has a good quality of life. And they use world-leading expertise in donkey welfare. They design targeted solution to meet the needs of these animals. And they bring together over 400 welfare experts for rescuing donkeys, shaping their behavior.
and collaborating with individual owners and communities. They also perform life-saving surgical techniques and training of vets globally. And the Donkey Sanctuary improves the lives of over 4 million donkeys worldwide every year. So a donation will be going to them. And thank you to sponsors of the show for making that donation possible.
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