Palo Alto's Resident Donkeys, Perry & Jenny, Receive $2K Donation

PALO ALTO, CA — In a ceremony held Tuesday, the Palo Alto Humane Society donated $2,000 for the care of Perry and Jenny, the two beloved donkeys residing at Barron Park in Palo Alto.

The city’s resident donkeys, part of a longtime, local tradition, rely on donations for their food and veterinary needs.

“We are grateful for this donation from PAHS because, even though the daily donkey care is provided by volunteer handlers, the donkeys’ medical care has skyrocketed due to dermatitis of their legs, which has necessitated multiple veterinary visits and expensive medicine,” said Jenny Kiratli, Barron Park Donkeys' care coordinator.

The Bol Park pair are part of the area's history that dates to the 1930s, when Stanford physicist Cornelis Bol and his wife, Josina, cared for a small herd on their property, a working farm that later became Barron Park on Laguna Avenue. The community so enjoyed the donkeys' presence, locals approved funds in the 1970s to officially turn the pasture into Bol Park. When Josina Bol passed away in 1996, neighborhood volunteers brought in two new burros, one being Perry, to serve as companions to Mickey, the last of the original Bol herd.

Pericles (Perry) arrived in 1997, with Jenny arriving in 2016. And since then, the twosome has enjoyed a bit of time in the celebrity spotlight.

“These two donkeys have an interesting history,” Kiratli said. “In fact, Perry served as the model for Donkey in the movie 'Shrek.'”

“You can look at those movies and really tell that it’s him,” Don Anderson, one of the donkey volunteers, told The Mercury News in 2015. “They shortened his legs a bit and mixed traces of Eddie Murphy’s face in with his, but he’s still Perry.”

The duo also inspired the winning essay,"Snapshot," in the 2019 Palo Alto Humane Society Ambassadors of Compassion Story Writing Contest. "Snapshot," a fictional tale of a donkey and a young girl who comes to his rescue, was written by Palo Alto student Vandana Ravi and illustrated by Linda Haim. (It is available here on Amazon.)

The donation from Palo Alto Humane Society is provided through the organization’s Daisy Fund, a campaign aimed at helping animals whose owners cannot afford veterinary services.

Carole Hyde, PAHS’ executive director said the donation exemplifies the partnership between the local humane society and the Barron Park Donkeys project. “This is a wonderful example of what community means,” she said.

PAHS’ $2,000 funding is earmarked for the donkeys' medical care, which is provided by Starwood Equine Veterinary Services in Redwood City, officials said.

“Community organizations complementing and supporting each other’s efforts increase the benefits for the community and our animal friends in need,” Kiratli added.

Donations also can be made to Barron Park Donkeys at this link.

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