Located just south of San Diego lies the Mexican border town of Tijuana. Underage college kids used to come here to drink, party and buy prescription drugs over the counter. Nowadays however the town has become synonymous with violence and the war on drugs. But TJ, as it’s affectionately known, is also notorious for something far more sinister than the odd Cartel beheading: the Tijuana Donkey Show.

‘A Donkey show?’ you say ‘Who’d want to watch two donkeys have sex?’. Unfortunately the reality is far more perverse than that. A donkey show is a live performance of bestiality between a woman and a donkey who is coaxed into having sexual intercourse with her.

Women having sex with members of the horse family isn’t a new thing. Some may recall the story of Catherine the Great which stated that she was crushed to death when the harness supporting her four-legged lover snapped. However, Tijuana is the only place to have turned it into a performance art.

Much like the story of Catherine the Great, which has been proven as nothing more than a myth. Many believe donkey shows to be the stuff of urban legends. As author Jim Dawson puts it:

“No doubt there are clandestine clubs that have put these sordid floorshows on display, but if every man who claims he actually saw one is telling the truth, there must be a lot of bowlegged women hobbling around Tijuana.”

- Jim Dawson

I scoured the internet trying to find evidence of such shows existence and found no actual footage and surprisingly few people claiming to have seen a show.  This leads me to agree with Dawson’s conclusion. I do believe such shows exist though they aren’t as common as the frat boys of San Diego State would have you believe.

Should I go?

Perhaps people go just to see the pure physics of it, perhaps people go to be grossed out, I’m sure lots of people go because its ‘what you do’ in Tijuana.

But this doesn’t explain the sexual arousal that a select few get from watching it. I suspect that most who get aroused do so because the act of having sex with a donkey is a form of extreme female degradation. After all, what girl grows up dreaming of having sex with donkeys (it’s not even a pure breed).

In 2007 I was unfortunate enough to spend one night in Tijuana. Much as expected I was offered to view a donkey show within the first 20 minutes of arriving but declined the invitation.

If you’ve read my moral qualms about attending a Ping Pong show in Bangkok you’ll probably be able to guess why. Donkey shows are a bad idea on so many levels. While some people’s concern may lie with the nonconsensual nature of sex with an animal, my main concern lies with the treatment of the women who perform in these shows. I suspect that much like the donkeys they work with, these women are likely owned, mistreated and viewed only as a commodity by their pimps.

Don’t take it from me

YouTuber CaptainFury is one of those who claims to have experienced a donkey show first hand. He recounts his experience in this clip:

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