Must watch: Flying donkey *Final update*

Okay, this is my last word on donkeygate. The Sun splashes today with the news we’ve all been hoping for (even someone as heartless as me): The airborne ass is safe! Okay, that’s done.

Earlier post:

Wow, this donkey thing’s really taken off. I first saw the video of the Russian animal on Tuesday morning when, in the early stages of going viral, a link arrived from a BBC employee in Moscow. About six people on The Independent’s news desk watched it and, yes, we all laughed. And so I posted the clip here (scroll down), acknowledging it was both cruel and funny.

Since then the clip has been seen by almost a million people (I won’t take credit for that). Meanwhile, my post has collected dozens of comments. I’ve received several emails, and letters have been sent to my editor. I’ve been called “a silly little man” (Geoff), “totally irresponsible” (Victoria, who calls for a boycott of The Independent and its website), a “nitwit” (Esther), “disgusting and despicable” (Nelsonimaximus), and a “nob” (Ian Jones)

Somebody called “cobnut” says I should “sort myself out”, while a chap called Philp Howells sniffs a conspiracy because, like the new owners of this newspaper, the donkey clip is Russian. “I am SO looking forward to your similar re-writing of the history of massacres in Chechnya,” Howells writes in an email, adding: “Come back Simon Kelner!” (Kelner being the current editor of this newspaper).

So yeah, lots of flack. Which is fine – like flying donkeys, the emails and comments have been funny. But it’s worth hearing my defence – that laughing at the clip and sharing it with the world doesn’t make me a sadist (a colleague has expressed this better than I could).

Call me a nob, but I say it’s possible to care about animals, to feel sorry for this unfortunate creature, to hope that the misguided men behind the stunt are arrested and that their charge is returned to a field with extra carrots AND to find a flying donkey funny.

Original post:

Cruel? Yes. Funny? Yes. Here’s what’s tickling the newsroom today (when we’re not doing hard news and stuff)

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