MARES in Zimbabwe - Outreach Program Report July

Bulawayo Rehabilitation Sanctuary

We can reservedly say that July was a quietier month with the least amount of rescues and injuries.  However, due to Level 4 Covid restricting us from travelling, which means less people on the roads to inform us of any injured or abandoned donkeys.  

Having said that, we did get a message, albeit too late, that a mother donkey had been hit and killed at the 390km peg on the Harare Road, (45kms from Bulawayo) and her foal was left standing next to her.  Mares immediately set off to uplift the baby foal but sadly, because the information came to us so late, when we got there the foal had been attacked by dogs, killed and half eaten.  We have put out a notice that when anybody sees an incident like this, to report to us as soon as possible so this atrocity can be avoided.  

We were called out to collect a stray donkey running down a main road in the Bulawayo CBD, causing havoc with the traffic.  We managed to catch him and he is now safe at the sanctuary.  

We also went and collected two elderly horses whose owner passed away suddenly and were left homeless.  They have settled very well.

We have been experiencing extremely cold weather (the coldest recorded in over 80 years) and have had to make 8 warm donkey blankets for our very old donkeys.

MARES continues to spay feral cats in Bulawayo and to date have sterilized 116 cats. 

David – Nyanyadzi/Buhera

David had a busy month with the following:-

2 x donkeys tied together, abandoned, thin with severe rain scald.  Uplifted and taken to Nyanyadzi sanctuary for rehabilitation

The donkey that fell into the mine pit has recovered and returned to its owner.

The donkey attacked last month by hyena has recovered completely and was returned to its very thankful owner last week.

David has visited 3 areas educating and assisting donkey owners and saw 58 donkeys.  One of the worst was a donkey with sarcoids over his scrotum.  Sarcoids, we have noticed, are a big problem in the rural areas and we need to investigate this further.

David is, unfortunately, still finding donkeys with ill fitting harnesses and harness wounds on donkeys he hasn’t seen before.  30 harnesses and 15 sets of swingle trees and yokes, 100 neck reflectors and 60 bell straps have been sent to him to help these donkeys. He will be holding a workshop in conjunction with VAWS on 28 July.

On 28 July VAWS will be sterilizing dogs and cats in the Nyanyadzi/Buhera area and thanks to Animal Aid Abroad MARES has sent 140 rabies and tetanus vaccines so that the VAWS team can vaccinate all the donkeys in these areas on our behalf whilst we can’t travel.

Tinker, the donkey with the fractured back leg, is recovering slowly but is in good spirits and painfree.

Barry - Dete. 

It is saddening to find that some of the donkey owners are still using underage donkeys to pull their scotch carts.  We have had to put stricter measures out that if any donkey owner is caught with underage donkeys and we know they have been educated on why they should not be used, the donkeys will be confiscated and they will be fined under the Animal Cruelty Act.

2 donkeys were taken to Barry’s sanctuary where they are receiving treatment after being run over by the scotch cart, sustaining wounds to their heads, legs and torsos.  Due to the seriousness of their injuries MARES sent Dr. Moses Muvona to attend to them as well as several donkeys with injuries and wounds.  Due to the short notice of the Dr. Muvona’s visit he only managed to vaccinate 50 donkeys with rabies and tetanus.  He will be visiting Dete on his return from a dog sterilizing campaign on 7 August where he hopes to vaccinate a further 200 donkeys.  30 harnesses and 15 swingle tree and yoke sets as well as 50 neck reflectors and 20 bells straps were given to Barry for his next workshop on Dr. Muvona’s return.

Cement and fencing was delivered to the village that has been losing donkeys to hyenas and the donkey kraal will be reinforced to keep the donkeys safe.

Barry was presented with his smart Animal Aid Abroad uniform for which he is most grateful for.  We hope he will wear it with pride.  

Total number of harnesses handed out                                                            60

Yokes and swingletrees                                     30

Bell straps                                                                                                              80

Neck reflectors                                                                                                   150