For Cinco de Mayo, the marketing geniuses at Pink Taco, a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles, thought it was a great gimmick to chain a donkey that was shaved and painted pink outside its entrance.

Although no animal abuse charges have yet been filed – the restaurant was ordered by police to remove the donkey only because there was no display permit – what isn’t abusive about shaving and spray-painting an animal, trucking it a long distance (90 miles round trip), and then forcing it to stand on concrete for hours in 85-degree heat?

This wasn’t the first time Pink Taco used a pink donkey. Back in 2007, one also appears in the restaurant’s cheesy video, “Pinky’s Road to Stardom.”

On Thursday, shortly after Ben Decker made the world aware of the pink donkey by posting a picture on his Twitter account, outraged animal advocates reacted by creating a Boycott Pink Taco Facebook group, which now has more than 2,200 members. PETA is investigating the incident, and celebrities like Pink and Lea Michele have expressed their disgust via Twitter.

And soon after Decker posted the picture, Pink Taco removed its Twitter and Facebook accounts. It has not yet commented on its lame publicity stunt. A spokesman for the restaurant told OCWeekly.com that a formal statement will be released next week.

It’s time for Pink Taco to find compassionate ways to attract customers. Please sign the petition telling Pink Taco to apologize for the stunt, and to promise not to use a pink donkey (or other live animal) again.

Photo credit: @BenDecker