Improving Donkey Welfare in Zimbabwe
Although Zimbabwe remains in level 4 lockdown, AAA partner group, MARES, managed to obtain authority to travel in August, allowing them to carry out several successful working donkey outreach clinics.
Traditionally, August is the month for vaccinating and deworming so, on 17th of August, the MARES team set out to Nyanyadzi to vaccinate and deworm 222 donkeys. The team took the opportunity to educate 30 donkey owners on their animals’ welfare, including humane harnessing and correct cart weights. 30 humane harnesses were issued and 15 carts were reconfigured to be lighter for working donkeys. Shortly following this clinic, on the 19th and 20th of August, the MARES team travelled to Darwendale where an additional 12 donkeys were vaccinated and dewormed.
The MARES team set off again on Tuesday, 24th of August for two days of outreach for working donkeys in Dete, in the Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe. They were welcomed by a large crowd, waiting to have their donkeys attended to. A total of 192 donkeys were vaccinated and dewormed during the two days. Other issues attended to by veterinarian, Dr Muvona, were deworming, skin injuries, eye infections, castrations, colic, dental issues and a donkey with a hernia.
The 2-day outreach clinic also involved:
· Educating children about being kind to donkeys by not using whips or grabbing donkeys by their ears
· Education on donkey care and welfare, including how to harness, hitch and pack carts correctly
· Humane harness training and distribution aimed at reducing donkey injuries. A total of 30 new harnesses were distributed to donkey owners in Dete.
· Reconfiguring scotch carts so they are lighter and easier for working donkeys to pull
The villagers were certainly eager to learn from the MARES team on how to best care for their donkeys.
During the Dete clinic, two young boys brought their donkeys in with serious wounds caused by improper harnesses. A team member recognised them immediately as they had previously been issued with new, padded harnesses. It was discovered they had sold the harnesses and were trying to obtain more. This problem was dealt with swiftly and the injured donkeys have been confiscated until they recover. MARES have decided that they will now register each cart with a small number plate, which will help to identify which carts and donkeys have been attended to by MARES and Animal Aid Abroad.
In total during August, MARES vaccinated and dewormed 522 donkeys, adapted 30 carts, issued 60 humane harnesses, gave out 120 bell straps to working donkeys and provided 150 reflective neck bands to protect donkeys from road accidents and hyena attacks. Two horses and four abandoned donkeys were also rescued by MARES.
One of MARES’ team members, David, has been busy dealing with severely injured donkeys caused by ill-fitting harnesses in a region known as Ward 20. A vet will visit this region on the 7th of September to attend to these wounds and David will undertake community education to address this issue. Donkey owners will not receive any harnesses until the wounds on their donkeys have healed completely. Animal Aid Abroad recently funded a motorbike and helmet for hard-working David, along with a uniform displaying the AAA Logo. Both David and MARES have sent their thanks for our donation, stating it will make David’s life so much easier when he’s travelling from village to village.
The final update from MARES is that a solar panel was kindly donated and installed at their sanctuary to pump water from their well. It has certainly come in handy as the site has recently been experiencing severe power cuts.
MARES have identified that there is still much ongoing work to be done to improve the welfare of working donkeys in this region of Zimbabwe. Thank you, MARES, for running such successful clinics during August and making an enormous difference already in the lives of working donkeys.
