Austin is living proof there is a political constituency for absolutely everything.
While some might have doubted the possibility of its existence, the Wild Burro Protection League came to the capital city to deliver protest petitions Wednesday, according to a simply delightful story in the Austin American-Statesman.
As is custom here, taxpayers opened their arms offering a Department of Public Safety motorcycle escort for the protesters as they blocked noontime traffic on a caravan to the Capitol.
Accompanying them were six burros, balky as burros famously are, but in captivity looking not at all like the feral burros the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department shoots and kills from time to time in Big Bend Ranch State Park.
Taxpayers pay to have the bright and crafty burros shot because they bespoil the fragile ecosystem of Texas’ southern tip, a Parks & Wildlife policy statement says.
An ecosystem being in the eye of the beholder, the Protection League founder Marjorie Farabee says the slaughter is a plot to create lebensraum for bighorn sheep, which have their own lobbying group, and other game that make hunting in the park a sport for the rich.
Having been turned away by Gov. Rick Perry’s office, the League delivered 103,000 or so petitions to the office of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Dewhurst is a member of the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame for his prowess aboard the feral burro’s domesticated cousin.
League members briefly considered, then decided against requesting a personal audience for their burros, voicing what everyone in this city takes for granted.
"Hey, there's jackasses in there already,” Susan Nelson of Gainesville told the Statesman. “Let 'em go."
As is custom here, taxpayers opened their arms offering a Department of Public Safety motorcycle escort for the protesters as they blocked noontime traffic on a caravan to the Capitol.
Accompanying them were six burros, balky as burros famously are, but in captivity looking not at all like the feral burros the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department shoots and kills from time to time in Big Bend Ranch State Park.
Taxpayers pay to have the bright and crafty burros shot because they bespoil the fragile ecosystem of Texas’ southern tip, a Parks & Wildlife policy statement says.
An ecosystem being in the eye of the beholder, the Protection League founder Marjorie Farabee says the slaughter is a plot to create lebensraum for bighorn sheep, which have their own lobbying group, and other game that make hunting in the park a sport for the rich.
Having been turned away by Gov. Rick Perry’s office, the League delivered 103,000 or so petitions to the office of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Dewhurst is a member of the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame for his prowess aboard the feral burro’s domesticated cousin.
League members briefly considered, then decided against requesting a personal audience for their burros, voicing what everyone in this city takes for granted.
"Hey, there's jackasses in there already,” Susan Nelson of Gainesville told the Statesman. “Let 'em go."
***
Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org or on Twitter at @marktxwatchdog.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Photo 'donkeys looking over Big Bend Ranch' by flickr user DanielJames, used via a Creative Commons license.
Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org or on Twitter at @marktxwatchdog.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Photo 'donkeys looking over Big Bend Ranch' by flickr user DanielJames, used via a Creative Commons license.
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