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An untamed ass nicknamed Cupid is healing after a medical procedure after being hit with an arrow in what experts label the newest in a series of half a dozen attacks starting last month on asses that traverse suburban-rural areas of California's southern interior.

Animal Aid In Progress

The young female donkey was spotted last Wednesday with a colored projectile embedded in her upper body as she roamed with a group in the lower slopes of the region.

Animal services and the county law enforcement answered the call and helped bring the injured animal in for an urgent operation to extract the projectile. The object had pierced the burro’s right lung.

“Right now she’s stable and is standing, which is a huge step forward,” an animal advocate commented.

When Cupid is back to health, she will become part of a group of saved burros who wander a large preserve and wildlife preserve.

Incentive Announced for Leads

The non-profit is offering a twenty-four thousand dollar reward, funded by donations, for information resulting in the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in at least six arrow assaults on burros over the last few months.

The county department of animal services announced that the probe is ongoing, and requested the people's support in locating a suspect or suspects.

Conservation Status

Free-roaming asses are shielded under national legislation. They are an emblematic figure of the western United States, originating from their former use as transport creatures for people migrating to California during the Gold Rush.

Burros have become an “community icon” of the region, where hundreds of them have rambled freely for at least seven decades. They even aid in fire prevention by munching on flammable vegetation in hard-to-reach and high-risk canyons.

“So they really do provide a advantage to the community. Fire crews appreciate them because, they note: ‘Wow, these animals can go locations we can’t go,’” a spokesperson stated.

Local Relations

The animals are docile but occasionally they can be a bother if they consume residents’ flowers or block roads when motorists stop to give them treats from their cars.

Last year, a adjacent county, where wild burros are estimated to number in the multiple thousands, partnered with a charitable group to responsibly catch the animals and move them to sanctuaries.

“While the wild burros charm a lot of residents and visitors, they also frequently face vehicle traffic and rail transports, resulting in tragedy for animals and people,” the county reported.

“The burros also severely harm themselves leading to complications and loss of life when they become entangled in enclosures or when their feet get trapped in cemetery flower vases.”

Continued Danger

The arrows used in the incidents were sharp-pointed arrows, a design typically utilized for wildlife harvesting. According to non-profit accounts, the opening assault occurred the start of the summer, when a small ass was found eating with an arrow in her side near where Cupid was spotted.

Shortly after, a another burro was found hit with a comparable type of arrow in the equivalent location. From that point, at least more donkeys were shot in the vicinity, including a duo thought to be two to four months old.

Fit donkeys typically live four decades or longer and differ in stature from compact “minis” that may weigh 300lbs to bulky “mammoths”.

Last year, two men pleaded guilty to national offenses for using high-powered rifles to take the lives of three wild burros in southern California’s Mojave Desert.