Flying donkey shocks beachgoers in Russia's south

Police in southern Russia will launch a probe into an initiative by local entrepreneurs who sent a donkey into the sky on a parachute in an advertising stunt. The official spokesman for the local directorate of the Interior Ministry told reporters that the parachuting donkey incident took place last Thursday on an Azov Sea beach in the Temryk District in Krasnodar. "They gave this donkey a parachute ride in order to attract holidaymakers' attention to this sort of entertainment. The parasailing donkey brayed and the children cried, but no one was smart enough to inform the police about the incident," RIA Novosti news agency quoted the official as saying Monday. The police will launch a probe and if the entrepreneurs are found guilty, they could face criminal persecution under the article on cruel treatment of animals of the Russian Criminal Code, which carries a maximum punishment of two years in prison.