Man brings donkey to testify on its own behalf

Buddy, accused of loud braying, appears gentle and well-mannered in court

	Buddy the donkey is led by ranch operator Etienne Grimmett and owner Gregory Shamoun, right, into court in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday.
Rick Gershon / AP

Slideshow

Image: A California sea lion is pictured at the zoo of Wuppertal

Animal Tracks
From a petite panda to a sleepy sea lion, find images of animals great and small.

more photos

Video: Pet health

Bringing your dog to work
July 9: TODAY’s Sara Haines finds out what happens when members of the TODAY staff bring their dogs into the office.

An airline for your four-legged friends

Web only: 'Nightly News' dog?

Web only: Dogs at Google

Pups get pretty makeovers

Big dogs go from 'Bow to Wow'

Cat nurses puppies

Most popular

• Most viewed

• Top rated

• Most e-mailed

Toddler gives police a turn at hide-and-seek

Mosques reportedly closed in Chinese city

Jackson knew kids’ veils would have to come off

4 charged after bodies dug up at Ill. cemetery

San Andreas fault giving off mysterious tremors

Most viewed on msnbc.com

updated 5:56 a.m. ET April 19, 2007

DALLAS - Faced with complaints that his donkey was too loud, Dallas attorney Gregory Shamoun decided to bring his case directly to the court: He had the donkey testify.

Buddy the donkey appeared in court Wednesday. He walked to the bench and stared at the jury, the picture of a gentle, well-mannered creature and not the loud, aggressive animal he had been accused of being.

Shamoun was in a dispute with oilman John Cantrell, who had complained to the city about a storage shed Shamoun was building in his backyard in Dallas. Cantrell said Shamoun retaliated by bringing the donkey from his ranch and putting him in the backyard.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Cantrell complained of donkey noise and manure piles.

“They bray a lot any time day or night. You never know when they’re going to cut loose,” he testified.

Despite the donkey’s appearance, neither jurors or Buddy had the last say — the neighbors settled their dispute while jurors deliberated.