TAHUCHA's December activity in Tanzania

AAA partner group Tanzania Humane Charity (TAHUCHA) work in the Geita region to help working donkeys and increase awareness of humane handling. They have sent us an update on their December activity:

"In December we have been able to serve donkeys in the rural settings of 6 villages across the 4 wards of Katente, Busonzo, Bulangwa and Igulwa in the Bukombe District through mobile and outreaches. Issues in focus were donkey wounds and pain as a result of ox yoke harnesses, overworking, overloading, beating and signs of illness.

Our sanctuary continued making a difference for badly injured donkeys. In September we reported on one of our rescue donkeys, Dodo who is 2 years old, and it's leg was severely damaged. This donkey is healed and recovered and is pictured among the images.

In December 2020 alone, we managed to attend to 396 donkeys. We managed to treat and successfully heal various conditions. 10 of the donkeys attended in December had tetanus which seems to relate to the rain season, as in the dry season there are very few cases.

12 donkeys with dental problems were fixed as well as 62 cases of lameness due to tendon exhaustion, and cracked hooves due to walking on rough terrain. All were cleaned and checked carefully with hoof tester and our advice to owners was to allow plenty of rest.

The last activity in December 2020 has been to identify what exactly is required for approximately 5000 donkeys in several groups in Shinyanga who have been stranded for a couple of months as a result of the only current donkey slaughter house in Tanzania being closed down. These donkeys were sourced from the communities all over the source regions and came on hoof to this abattoir to be slaughtered for their skins and meat, then exported to China as raw material to feed cosmetics industries.

Thankfully, AAA has been able to send help for these donkeys."