By KRWG News
Texas – Sheriffs departments and animal rescue operations say donkeys in Texas are being abandoned in growing numbers because the state's worst drought since the 1950s has made them too costly to keep and their owners can't sell them.
The San Antonio Express-News reported Saturday (http://bit.ly/qULMvT ) that cash-strapped owners are freeing them on the sides of roads and leaving the animals' fate up to law enforcement agencies and a determined group of donkey rescue operations.
Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, a California-based nonprofit organization with a 260-acre rescue ranch near San Angelo, says Texas alone has brought 500 donkeys into the group's care since March. That's 100 more donkeys than the organization rescued nationally last year.
The group says it's having a hard time keeping up with the growing number of abandoned donkeys.
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Information from: San Antonio Express-News, http://www.mysanantonio.com
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.