MARES Zimbabwe September Report

MARES in Zimbabwe had a busy September, following is their report from two of their coverage areas: Nyanyadzi and Dete.

Nyanyadzi Report

MARES Vet David attended 103 donkeys in total.

47 donkeys were attended at the sanctuary and these were dewormed and treated for wounds.

A total of 43 donkeys were attended at Changazi area (Ward 20) and of these, 21 were dewormed, 13 treated for harness wounds, 8 for whip wounds and 1 uplifted to Mutare SPCA with a broken leg.

7 donkeys were attended at Machongwe area and these were both dewormed and received wound treatment.

In Nenohwe area, 28 donkeys were examined and dewormed and treated for harness wounds, while 1 was uplifted to Chimanimani with a broken leg.

David also collected 3 kittens that an owner was about to drown and took them to Mutare SPCA on the back of his motorbike. 

A resident of Nyanyadzi, Costa, has spent the past 2 weeks at MARES training with Charles to make the harnesses.  He has a passion for donkeys and we hope he will be able to assist David as David is getting more and more busy with his education and wound management.

Dete report

MARES Vet Barry attended 11 donkeys in total.

4 donkeys were treated for oxpecker wounds, 2 for harness wounds, 3 had sarcoids, while 2 had eye problems.  Having treated so few is a wonderful indication that the education and outreach program we have been running in Dete in the past 10 months is very effective and that it shows that through education we can improve the lives of donkeys.

6 disselbooms were fitted to the scotch-carts of villagers. These were 2.5 metres long and of correct weight to prevent donkey injury.   We are happy to say that all 60 scotch carts have had their heavy metal disselbooms changed for the lighter wood poles.

On 11 September Barry reported that one donkey had been attacked, killed and half eaten by hyenas.  Apparently it strayed and the owner could not find it to kraal that night.  The villagers are now kraaling their donkeys each night which has drastically reduced the incidence of hyena attacks.

Another 50 humane bell straps and neck reflectors were sent to Dete for Barry to distribute to donkey owners who do not as yet have them but have got their new harnesses. 

We are nearing the rainy season so will be sending much needed tick dip and tick grease to dip the donkeys before the rains come, thus reducing tick infestation.