Man Traveling With His Mule Calls Attention To Lack Of Public Spaces

CASTRO VALLEY (KPIX 5) -- A man and his mule have spent years traveling the West Coast, but they've run into some trouble in the East Bay.

His mission is to bring attention to the disappearance of public space.

"We don't want a house -- it has no value to us. We want the outside world," Mule said.

This week he spent two nights in jail for trespassing in Castro Valley.

He has a name, but he prefers being called Mule, and his mule is named Little Girl.

The way he sees it, he isn't doing anything wrong. But when he and Little Girl want to rest at night, they've had some run-ins with the law.

Mule's trespassing charges were dropped, but on Wednesday he had to take care of some paperwork in the Alameda County District Attorney's office.

So he parked Little Girl out front while he went inside.

Mule has met a lot of people during his travels and people follow his journey on Facebook. There's even a Mule Nation group, and the 3mules.com website.

Fortunately Mule Nation was tracking Little Girl when Mule spent two nights at the Alameda County Jail.

"I immediately ran out to get my trailer...not have Animal Control come out and impound Little Girl," said Melissa Austin with Horses Healing Hearts.

Mule spends a lot of time defending his plea of not guilty so that he can get back to wandering.

Mule is a man who wanders through town with a website and Facebook page making new friends and butting heads from time to time with police along the way.

"When I watched him walk off yesterday I had a tear in my eye -- but I had this feeling that 'I will see you again,'" Austin said.

Now he is headed to San Francisco, where it's cooler for Little Girl.

From San Francisco, he plans to travel south to San Diego.