The first witness in a court case in Dallas, Texas, was a real ass.

Buddy the donkey was led into the courtroom to help resolve a dispute between two neighbours.

He said nothing to the media - just twitched his huge ears and swatted flies with his tail, reports the Dallas Morning News.

"Call your first witness," Judge Steven Seider said.

"Your honour, we call Buddy," attorney Jeff Sandberg replied. "The donkey."

Buddy was at the centre of a dispute between oilman John Cantrell and attorney Gregory Shamoun.

Mr Cantrell claimed Mr Shamoun put Buddy in his backyard to disturb him after he had complained about a shed Mr Shamoun was building.

"They bray a lot any time day or night. You never know when they're going to cut loose," he -*test*-('")ified.

But Mr Shamoun insisted Buddy was there to serve as a surrogate mother for a calf named Lucy that needed to be bottle-fed.

In the end, the neighbours settled their dispute out of court. Mr Shamoun agreed to buy some of Mr Cantrell's land and Mr Cantrell agreed to withdraw his complaint.