MARES in Zimbabwe - Outreach Program Report June
June, was a very quiet month for the MARES team with only 2 donkeys being uplifted and taken to MARES Donkey Sanctuary.
“It was with great sadness that David, a very old donkey we rescued with David from Nyanyadzi (hence the name we gave the donkey) went into renal failure and we had to make the selfless decision to put him down instead of suffering. We seek comfort in the knowledge that his last two months on earth were only filled with love and attention and comfort before he left us. It did give our guys the time to make 60 harnesses and 30 yokes for Dete and Nyanyadzi. Unfortunately, due to a spike in the Covid numbers, Zimbabwe has gone back into lockdown which prohibits us from travelling into the rural areas.
Sadly, Dete was not like Bulawayo and there have been two more incidents of hyenas attacking donkeys. The first hyena attack was sadly the donkey we spent 8 weeks rehabilitating with a locked patella. He was killed outright. A week later a pack of 6 hyena broke into a basic kraal in Magodi village, killing 2 donkeys (and eating them) and severely injuring a third donkey. Barry uplifted this donkey where he is rehabilitating at the sanctuary and doing very well. We have spoken to the village heads and Council and we will be sending up some fencing and cement to reinforce the kraals which will prevent hyenas being able to break in and kill the village livestock. On the advice of Janet, we are looking into installing a solar sensor light which should also put off hyenas coming in to attack.
The donkey who was attacked by hyena in May has recovered and has been returned to its owner. Barry has also visited all the donkey owners handing out the bell straps and reflective neck bands to those who have not yet received any.
Although not donkey related, on our visits to Dete, we attended to a five year old boy with hectic blisters and wounds all over his body. His parents told us he had had this illness since birth. At the beginning of June we paid for him to see a doctor in the new clinic that has just opened in Dete and for a price of a dinner, this little boy got a course of injections and is now totally healed and painfree for the first time in his life. What a good feeling it was! He was diagnosed with impetigo.
David in Nyanyadzi has also had another hyena attack in his area and the injured donkey has been brought to his sanctuary where he has been attending to the severe wound. Fortunately, the donkey is healing well but it will be some weeks before he is returned to his owner.
In the Buhera area it was reported that another female donkey and her foal fell into an open mine pit. The foal has died and as l type this David has gone to collect the injured mare and return it to his sanctuary. At this time David has 12 injured donkeys that he is caring for. We have approached SOFA (Speak Out For Animals) who will assist us in enforcing the law to fence any mining areas off to prevent these atrocities.
Total number of donkeys attended to in Buhera 26
Total number of donkeys attended to in Nyanyadzi ………………65
Total number of donkeys attended to in Dete 60
Both David and Barry have been doing a wonderful job and we are so proud of their dedication to help the donkeys in their area.”
