Donkeys abandoned and covered in graffiti are saved
Donkeys that had been covered in graffiti and abandoned as part of a political protest in Nairobi have been saved by The Brooke.
Last month (11 December) 36 donkeys were unloaded from a truck in the city’s central business district with “tumechoka” the Swahili word for “we’re fed up”, spray-painted onto them.
The scene attracted a large crowd that police struggled to control, and the donkeys were impounded.
Three Brooke East Africa staff members went to negotiate the release of the donkeys, who the team suspected had been without food or water for hours, with no relief from the sun. Kenya Network for Dissemination of Agricultural Technologies (KENDAT), a Brooke partner organisation, also attended.
The donkeys were taken to the Kenyan Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (KSPCA), where James Kithuka, animal welfare officer for The Brooke, assessed all of the donkeys.
“As animal welfare advocates we needed to take them to a good place where they would be provided with clean drinking water, sufficient feed, and a clean environment to play, relax and roll,” he said.
“We needed to consider the plight of these donkeys and immediately free them from the scorching Nairobi sunlight.”
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The Brooke and KSPCA staff have been monitoring the donkeys closely and all of them have been wormed. Two donkeys were very thin so they have been given a diet of green napier grass and bran, and will gradually move on to hay. After two months, if nobody claims the donkeys then KSPCA will move to court to request to be granted permission to rehome them.
The Brooke are working in Kenya and 10 other countries around the world to improve the welfare of working horses, donkeys and mules who support the livelihoods of millions of people in developing countries.
To find out more visit: www.thebrooke.org
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.