Teens Tried to Ride, Attacked Donkey In South Side Park

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SOUTH SIDE (KDKA) -- A herd of goats and a donkey are under assault in South Side Park.

A group known as Allegheny GoatScape has placed the goats deep inside the park where they spend their days eating and sleeping. They're clearing out a destabilized hillside, all under the watchful eye of a protective donkey.

But a couple of nights ago, six teens attacked the donkey.

"They were attempting to ride the donkey," Sarah Baxendell, of the Hilltop Alliance, said. "And then once she yelled at them, they started to hurl rocks at the donkey."

The donkey is OK, but two weeks ago, someone tore down part of the fence that keeps the animals enclosed in the site.

Fortunately, the herd remained in the park, but neighbors are upset.

"I thought it was terrible that they're throwing rocks at these animals," Ivan Irizarry said. "They're great, keeping me company here."

"They're not harming us. They're not doing anything bad at all to us," Megan Devitt said. "They're really doing something beneficial to our neighborhood, so it's really terrible that someone is doing that to our neighborhood."

The goats and the donkey will be taken away in a couple of weeks, then the neighborhood will reseed and plant to make it a usable green space again.

In the meantime, Baxendell says, "Please stay outside of the goat fences. We want everyone to come see the goats, but if folks could not break in to the goat fences and not assault either the goats or the donkey, that would be good."

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Police have increased patrols in the park, and neighbors are watching out for intruders and have been instructed to call 911.