With its large ears and gentle demeanour, the Cotentin donkey (Equus asinus) is by far the most docile of the eight breeds of donkeys found in France. It has great patience with children and is particularly useful with autistic children, people with disabilities or those with Alzheimer’s. In the past, there were thousands of them furrowing the small roads of Normandy, carrying heavy milk jugs. Intelligent, the donkeys were capable of returning to the farm on their own after the milking of cows in the pastures.