ANACORTES, Wash. - A pit bull attack on a favorite town pet - a gray donkey - has the shoreside community of Anacortes fired up.

And some are now calling for a ban on that dog breed in the Skagit County town after reports of more pit bull attacks on other animals and humans there.

The 21-year-old donkey, named Pharlap, suffered severe injuries all over its body in the attack.

Pharlap's owners say the mild-mannered beast has lived peacefully on the same piece of property on 32nd Street for its entire life. During that time, the donkey has become Anacortes' unofficial pet - well-loved by many.

But on Tuesday, in the middle of the night, the horrific sound of Pharlap's alarmed braying brought its owner running out of her house - still in her pajamas and bare feet.

"If you've ever heard a donkey bray it's like a freight train - it goes on and on," says Rose Orr, the donkey's owner.

She reached the pasture just in time to catch a glimpse of the brutal pit bull attack on her beloved donkey.

"I could see at that point there were two dogs," she says. "I just ran screaming, trying to get them to leave."

The pit bulls ran off. But even in the darkness, Orr could see that Pharlap was bitten and gouged from head to hoof. Under the donkey were two pools of blood.

The poor creature's face and neck got the worst of the attack, leaving its skin flapping.

"I don't know if those claw or bite marks," says Orr. "Looks like a razor got him."

Animal control officers later caught the dogs a few blocks away, and word spread fast about the attack.

Debra Jones, who says her schnauzer, Duke, was wounded by a pit bull a few days earlier, put two and two together after the attack on the donkey.

Now she's organizing support for a breed ban against pit bulls in Anacortes.

"It just attacked and went on forever," she says. "It went on forever, and we couldn't do anything because we were scared the dog would turn on us."

There also have been reports of pit bulls attacks on people in the town.

In the meantime, Pharlap heals with the help of painkillers and antibiotics, taking 20 pills a day.

"People have been great. They will stop and ask about him. We've gotten cards for him," Orr says, laughing. "I've been amazed. I knew people knew him, but I had no idea he was such a celebrity."