Farm blasts rumour donkey ‘collapsed’ while giving kids rides during heatwave

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A family farm has responded to negative claims posted online that a donkey ‘collapsed’ while giving children a ride in the blazing heatwave.

Smithills Open Farm hit back at posts circulating on Facebook about their donkey, Bouncer, collapsing in the heat on Saturday, and said those responsible were "trying to destroy our family business that we have spent so long building up".Co-owner of the farm, Carl Grimshaw, posted a response on the farm’s Facebook page to offer the "truth" of "what actually happened", and asked customers to understand this situation.

The incident at the Bolton farm happened on July 16, according to Carl, when Bouncer was in the middle of giving kids rides.Bouncer decided to "get down on his knees, lie down and roll" and stayed on the floor - but despite he and other donkeys being stubborn, he stood up again after a minute, they said.

Carl says this was due to high levels of horse flies, not heat, as a donkey will be very used to high temperatures, reported Manchester Evening News.He said the farm, which was set up as a dairy farm in 1986 and opened to the public in 2001, prides itself on how well they look after their animals on the farm, and they are upset at the thought of people thinking otherwise.