Perry the donkey, 1994 – 2025

Perry, a miniature donkey living in Bol Park, Palo Alto, had to be euthanized on Jan. 2, as he was suffering from a hoof disease. He was 30. Perry started his career as a donkey in 1997, as an emotional support animal for polo ponies, but, his keeper said, “instead of calming them, he nipped at them.” Perry served as the model for the donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) in Shrek (2001); one of the animators lived near Bol Park, took a shining to Perry, and spent three days sketching him. Keeper Jenny Kiratli said that Perry was “feisty and funny, and prone to playfully nipping the occasional visitor in the butt.” (Didn’t they say the same thing about Mickey Rooney?)