Great work being done in Zambezi

AAA partner group, Zambezi Working Donkey Project have sent us an account of their August activity:

"In August we continued with our mobile clinic program, holding outreaches in the villages of Nsongwe and Simonga, as well as our work at the drop-in clinic at Maramba Farm.
Nsongwe is somewhere we had been asked to go by the Headman and we were very happy to attend and provide harnesses. Unfortunately many of the donkeys brought to the clinic under the heavy wooden ox-yokes were either very young or heavily pregnant – this is a big problem in Zambia as people don’t understand that this has extremely damaging effects on the development of young donkeys, and puts a high risk on the pregnancies. In southern Province there is an alarming statistic that 70% of donkey pregnancies do not make it to full term. Not only do the foals die or emerge with deformities and other problems, but it weakens the mother who suffers terribly and can no longer work properly.
Simonga is a large village and donkey carts attended from several neighbouring villages as well. Some of the owners had attempted to make their own harnesses using pieces of rubber or strapping, and others were under ox-yoke. We replaced all of the harnesses and provided basic veterinary treatment, but in comparison with other places we were quite happy with the condition of donkeys here. Wounds were minimal and most donkeys seemed well fed and not over worked. We think this is because of the location – donkeys work in the forests and help to transport goods, but they are not asked to bring heavy loads of firewood or charcoal all the way into town. This is probably because they cannot pass through the national park which lies in between. Nevertheless, we held a workshop for the owners and will be training community livestock officers to take forward best practices for donkey care.
During August we treated 50 working donkeys and provided 17 new sets of harnesses. We met with and educated 19 donkey owners who came from 14 villages.
We are often called by concerned citizens and even owners themselves when donkeys are found injured or very sick. Late one night our Director was called by some people who had seen a donkey get hit by a truck on the main Lusaka road. Our dedicated staff quickly came in from home, hitched up the trailer and drove out into the night to try and find the donkey. We were told it was still alive but did not know how bad the injuries were until we got there. At the scene it was clear the donkeys’ back legs were very damaged and it was in a state of shock. With the help of the owner we lifted the donkey into the trailer and brought him back to our rescue centre. The next day a vet attended who said the legs were not broken but his hips were a big problem. In Livingstone there is no equine veterinary facility or place we can take donkeys for X-rays etc. so the decision was made to give him a few days on medication with the very real and sad prospect that we may have to euthanise. Several weeks later ‘Captain’ is still with us – he still struggles to walk far but is able to lie down and stand up unassisted and is getting stronger. He also has a good appetite, so although he’s not in the clear yet we are giving him the best chance we can.
It is with cases like this that the support of our donors literally makes a life or death difference and we feel encouraged that we were called because it means that word is getting out and people know they have someone they can turn to help!"

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