BlindLove July 2023 Report on the Working Donkeys at Grahamstown, South Africa

BlindLove is the latest partner group which Animal Aid Abroad supports with the help of our generous donors. Following is the report on the working donkeys of Grahamstown project for July 2023.

The goals of this project was the castration of 10 donkey males as well as to hold 3 big veterinery / general outreach days in Grahamstown with the disadvanaged donkey owning communtities, as well as replacing old, ill fitting harnesses. We will be hosting the first of the castration campaigns on the 3rd August together with the Grahamstown veterinery clinic.

Director Philippa du Toit and our donkey champion Malibongwe have found a suitable location which is central to all 5 of the different outlying village areas. Quite simply, and as the vets requested, a big flat open area or field!! Philippa and Malibongwe headed out twice during the month of July, meeting with donkey owners, treating any minor wounds and injuries and chatting the the owners about the upcoming castration drive and veterinery outreach, explaining to them their donkeys can come and be dewormed and treated for parasites, have their hooves trimmed and their teeth checked. We told them there would be prizes for best cared for donkeys and carts and that we are also hoping to do some cart repairs on the day.

We will also be handing out our first batch of humane donkey harnesses that Malibongwe has been sewing up. We have showed them to some of the owners and their response has been very positive!

We have also recieved a couple of tack donations for the donkey owners. Smaller donkey bits which we are going to attatch to simple humane bridles, some grooming brushes and hoof picks!

We have noticed lots of the donkeys have hoof issues caused by small stones and pieces of wire embedded in their hooves. So we are teaching owners how to check and clean out their animals hooves daily.

Patrick Finnegan from Finnegans Tools in Ireland sent us a couple of innovative and easy to make to tools for us to show communities how to make themselves and use to keep their donkeys hooves neat and trim.

Malibongwe and Philippa headed out twice during July to chat meet with owners and discuss with them the importance of getting some of their male donkeys gelded. The donkeys often roam free at night to graze and the large number of stallions fighting is often the cause of many unnecessary injuries. Inbreeding is also becoming a big problem. We often come upon donkeys roaming the streets during the day and then treat any minor injuries we might see with wound cleaner and spray.

Some of the photos with this report illustrate the vast peri-urban area of the Grahamstown Township which Malibongwe has explained can be divided up into 5 seperate ‘village’ areas. It has been characterised by fast population growth which has led to lack of adequate services like water, sewage disposal and electricity.

Poverty in these areas is rife, with the donkey owning families being amongst the poorest. Children peer out from behind cage like burglar bars around shacks where they live, dogs and donkeys roam the litter lined streets scavaging for food. The more time we spend working in & getting to know these communities the greater the need for assistance becomes evident.