CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. – Cripple Creek is one of two cities in the United States where you could run into a wild donkey herd on the streets.
The Two Mile High Club nonprofit released its donkey herd into the streets for the summer. The local group spends each winter keeping the donkeys safe and healthy at a nearby ranch. But every summer, the donkeys are released to run wild for the public to see.
Clinton Cline, the president of Two Mile High Club, said the creatures remind people of the city’s mining history. “The donkeys pretty much built Cripple Creek originally,” Cline said. During the gold rush of the late 1800s, miners used donkeys to pull ore carts and transport materials to local mining camps.
Kelly Branyik, the marketing and events coordinator of Cripple Creek, said some of the donkeys released Wednesday are believed to be direct descendants of the historic mining donkeys.
“We like honoring our donkeys and giving them the free life that their ancestors didn’t get,” Branyik said. “We love our donkeys and we really want to take care of them.”
As of February, the group is taking care of these donkeys: Coco, Hershey, Seamus, Jenny 2, Amos, Tarzan, Pearl, Flash, Georganna, Jenny 1, Tiffany, Deckers, Cassie, Wendi, Emma Lou, and Matilda.
For the orginal source of this article: https://www.krdo.com/news/cripple-creek-donkeys-released-into-the-city-for-the-summer/1078297012