Donkey rights activists want laws to protect the animal

Nyandarua, Thursday, May 18, 2023

KNA by Antony Mwangi

Donkey rights activists want the country to develop laws that will stop mistreatment of the beasts of burden.

They said the country lacks such laws leaving the animals at the mercy of brutes and butchers.

The activists said they are lobbying the MCAs and MPs so that they can have laws that punish people found mistreating donkeys in the country.

The activists spoke at Ndundori Centre during treatment of donkeys to mark the National Donkey Day.

Many donkey owners, both from Nyandarua and Nakuru counties, brought their animals for de-worming, hoof trimming and wounds treatment by several veterinarians led by the Nyandarua Deputy Veterinary Officer James Kamau.

Kamau said that mistreatment of donkeys greatly reduces their lifespan and productivity. According to the veterinarians Nyandarua County has about 10,000 donkeys.

“A donkey can live up to 25 years if well fed and treated but many have had their lifespan cut short by mistreatment.

“We are organizing the donkey sensitization campaigns in the whole country and especially where donkeys are mainly used. We are teaching people on how to take good care of their donkeys and we have also diagnosed the diseases their donkeys could be suffering from,” said Kamau.

Wounds and worms were identified as the main issues donkeys in Nyandarua suffer from.

Alice Wangari, a veterinary officer, urged the residents to be taking care of donkeys the same way they engage a veterinary officer whenever their cows and sheep are unwell.

She argued that the contribution of a donkey in a homestead cannot be overlooked since they access the remotest parts that vehicles and motorbikes cannot access.

“We treat all the animals in the county but we realized that many people do not take good care of their donkeys like they do to other livestock.

“We have attended to over 200 donkeys and most of them had wounds on their backs and had untrimmed hooves,” said Wangari.

The activists praised the government for banning slaughter of the beasts of burden saying it saved the population of the animals from declining drastically.

Courtesy; K.N.A