Mobile vet clinic in Somaliland

AAA partner group SAWS in Hargeisa City, Somaliland, have been busy with carrying out their mobile vet clinic to treat working donkeys on water vender stations in the area. During these clinics, they also come across abandoned donkeys on garbage sites and standing along the road sides. In May they found two critical cases.

The first donkey had been abandoned near a Pepsi factory and had several medical issues - he had lost his right eye, he was weak and suffering from pain in his right leg and long hooves. He was treated with albendazol, a multivitamin injection and had his hooves trimmed.

The second abandoned donkey had a fractured bone in his back right leg, as well as an injury on his front leg which was infected with a parasite. Initial treatment was delivered, but with nowhere to house these abandoned donkeys, when the team returned to follow up treatment for this donkey, he had disappeared, most likely moving around the garbage site in search of food.

These garbage sites are riddled with metal scraps and dangerous objects that can cause injury and infection, which only compounds the problem for these abandoned animals.

In late April, Hassan and his team met with the Mayor and his deputy of Hargeisa City. After a long discussion, they realised the importance of the issue and promised to donate a plot of land on which to locate a donkey sanctuary.

The team will follow up on this meeting and hopefully have good news in the near future about gaining somewhere to shelter and treat sick, injured and abandoned animals.