Beloved 'Blackheath Donkey' stabbed in suspected 'gang initiation' attack

A popular one-time Blackheath donkey was found stabbed in what his owner believes was a suspected "gang initiation" attack.

Bimbo, a 28-year-old donkey, was found bleeding from his side on Friday by one of the animal's minders and has since taken a "turn for the worse" after the wound became infected.

Owner Lorayne Ahmet said Bimbo had contracted laminitis, a disease similar to thrombosis in humans which can lead to animals being put down.

Ms Ahmet said she believed the attack on Bimbo may have been perpetrated as part of a "gang initiation".

"There have been a few stabbings in Eltham of late and I have seen youths messing around with the donkeys," she said.

"I think one of them could have stabbed Bimbo as a gang initiation task.

"I'd like to get my hands on them, put them in a field and let the general public do what they want with them."

The donkey is one of several owned by Ms Ahmet, whose father Len Thorne ran donkey rides in Blackheath, near Greenwich Park, London, for more than 60 years before he died in 2012.

The herd had lived for nearly 30 years in a field surrounded by six foot fences.

But in 2012 they were moved on after then Mayor of London Boris Johnson decided to build the Greenwich Equestrian Centre on the spot as an Olympic legacy.

The donkeys are now in a field in Eltham, south east London, with shorter fences which leave the herd open to outsiders.