Seaside donkey proprietor John Nuttall has sparked debate by insisting children undergo a weight check before being allowed to ride his donkeys in Skegness. The 61-year-old has faced criticism for allegedly fat-shaming youngsters, yet many are applauding his decision.

With over four decades of experience providing donkey rides in Skegness and Cleethorpes, Nuttall has introduced a weight restriction to safeguard his donkeys in the face of increasing concerns about childhood obesity. He’s set up weighing scales adjacent to his mobile paddock, complete with a sign detailing the requirements: under ten years old, shorter than 4ft 6ins, and lighter than six stone (38kg) for a £4 jaunt along the promenade.

  • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Are you missing a /s?

    You know there are many kids who have weight issues due to disability, right? Parents are just trying to have a normal childhood for their kids and are trying to include them as much as possible. It’s understandable the donkeys have physical limitations; it’s also understandable that parents might be disappointed if their kids don’t fit the restrictions. It also sounds like he’s rude about it/makes comments when they weigh too much, but the article was hard to read so idk for sure what exactly is going on (popups).

    You can be kind to both groups. That you’d talk so badly about heavier people says a lot about you, not them.

        • Nerdulous@lemm.ee
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          4 months ago

          Do you know how rare that condition is? It’s about 1 in 20,000 compared to 1 in 5 children being obese.

          • wren@feddit.uk
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            4 months ago

            can’t believe I have to say this, but even if kids have no genetic or medical reason for being fat, bullying children relentlessly is still unkind and unhelpful

            • Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee
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              4 months ago

              If your dog constantly ate other dog’s shit off the ground, would you smack its nose every time it did it, or would you just say that’s how he expresses his feelings and we should encourage shit-eating?

              There’s a reason the phrase about being cruel to be kind exists

    • Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      If a parent insists on hurting a donkey simply because their kid throws a wobbly, it doesn’t matter the reason for their obesity, they’re still cunts

      So are donkeys mind you.

      I’d agree with the guy in the article who has to put up with both types of cunt, day in, day out lol

      • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I never said they deserve to hurt an animal. Just that disappointment is understandable and there’s no need to bully them.

    • BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      Is that some american disease where you feed your kids McDonald’s and then for some reason it doesn’t lose weight? Do these fat kids have some sort of membrane to pull calories out of the air without feeding them? Because that’s a crazy superpower.

      • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Yes, blame children. How old were you when you lost weight, which was very very hard to do?

        And definitely let’s not look at this systemically, like at government and corporate level for what food is allowed and what guidelines are put out there, along with lack of medical care in many instances.

        But yeah, those stupid fat kids can’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps and be a picture of perfect health, so let’s be bigoted and ableist /s