The owner of a donkey in Germany has been ordered to pay damages of €5 800 (around R92 500) after his donkey “snacked” on a volcano orage-coloured McLaren 650S Spider sportscar parked next to its paddock.
Markus Zahn, an entrepreneur and owner of the snazzy sports car, said that he had parked next to a paddock near where Vitus the donkey was grazing in the west-central German state of Hesse about a year ago.
Zahn said that when he returned, he discovered Vitus munching on his €300 000 (around R4.7 million) car.
According to reports from Germany, it wasn’t just paintwork the donkey damaged. An expensive carbon part was also reportedly damaged.
The damage amounted to around €30 000 (around R478 000), which Zahn’s McLaren garage covered the majority of. However, he still had to cover €6000 (around R92 000), which he attempted to get from Vitus’ owner, resulting in the case going to court.
On Thursday, a judge ruled in Zahn’s favour, who said that he had seen Vitus biting his car.
“I looked into the rear-view mirror and suddenly saw a pair of fluffy ears! And then I heard a strange sound,” Zahn told German newspaper Bild.
“The sound came from a donkey, who was gnawing at my fender,” he said.
Zahn and the local police suggested poor Vitus may have mistaken the orange-coloured car for a carrot.
Vitus’ owner however, questioned whether his animal actually did cause the damage and also suggested that the entrepreneur had parked his flashy car too close to the paddock.
Regardless, he now has to pay a pretty penny for his donkey’s curious palate.