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In Tanzania, thousands of donkeys live and work until they drop. Many are sick, hungry, injured and tired. The frugal animals are cheap labour, their owners ignorant of how to handle them, believing that donkeys never get sick and that only beatings make them work. The inadequate equipment causes them pain, the beatings cause wounds that are not treated, there is no hoof or dental care or veterinary care.
Together with the local animal welfare organisation TAPO (Tanzania Animals Protection Organization), we launched a comprehensive programme in 2011 to improve the living conditions of these animals. From 2014, we also worked with the local organisation TAWESO (Tanzania Animal Welfare Organization) to reach even more donkeys.
The comprehensive concept included educating the owners about care, needs, handling and care; events in schools to raise awareness among children; improving the animals’ equipment; education through radio programmes and the operation of a mobile clinic so that the donkeys receive ongoing medical care.
After the start of the project, the first step was to provide emergency medical aid for those donkeys that were in the worst condition. In a second step, basic medical care was organised, which will benefit thousands of donkeys on a regular basis in the future.
In July 2012, we designed a donkey cart that takes the weight off the donkey’s neck and turns the donkey into a draught animal instead of a pack animal. The conventional carts (actually designed for oxen) cause serious injuries to the donkeys’ necks. At the beginning of 2013, we found the first interested parties for the new cart. During the project phase, we bore the additional costs caused by this cart.
From 2014, thousands of donkeys were not only regularly treated by the local team in the Kahama region, but teams were also deployed in the area around Dar es Salaam. At the end of 2014, the donkeys at the Mwakitolio gold mine were also included in the programme. In order to work more efficiently, we financed a mobile clinic.
The medical care provided by the “Mobile Clinic Team” also includes ongoing training in keeping, treating, feeding and handling the animals. Information brochures, awareness days, negotiations with authorities and emergency aid round off the teams’ activities.
In 2015, we handed over the project completely into the hands of the local animal welfare organisations.
