By Sibabalwe Tame
The “Grahamstown Donkey Outreach” project kicked off on 3 August at an open field next to the Joza Post Office. The project has a trained donkey officer and aims to provide education, practical help, outreach days, castrations, and medical care to donkeys in the town. The Grahamstown Veterinary Clinic with Animal Aid Abroad Inc. and Blind Love started off the project by sterilising 10 donkeys.
“Today we are trying to focus on sterilisation and to get those naughty male donkeys that are causing problems in the streets, getting other donkeys pregnant, eating the rubbish,” veterinarian Dr. Annie Mears said. Sterilising donkeys will result in a smaller population which would make it a lot easier for the people in the township and in the town to manage,
“We are seeing a lot of other things here today like injuries and bad feet in the donkeys,” Mears said, adding that there are too many donkeys in Makhanda and too few people to look after them.
On 13 August the project will host an Outreach Day where dentists will check the wellness of the donkeys. “We will have a lot more people and a lot more donkeys,” said Mears.
The Grahamstown Veterinary Clinic will be looking at the hooves and teeth of the donkeys, and providing treatment and injections. They also will be educating the owners of the donkeys about how to keep the donkeys healthy. “This is going to be happening a couple of times a year,” she said, adding that the project will also train two community members in donkey care.
Reduce donkey numbers, increase donkey health and education
Private vets in the town cannot spend all the time they would like on caring for donkeys and sterilising them. “There are very few Veterinary Clinics, and we are a private vet. Although we are doing days like today for charity, we can’t do it all the time, because we have to run a business. The best thing for us is to encourage the community members to learn the skills, and teach each other how to keep donkeys healthy,” said Annie.
Philippa du Toit from Blind Love, a horse and donkey welfare organisation, said the project had been funded by Animal Aid Abroad in Australia which funds the care of working animals around the world. “We received funds for the castration of 10 male donkeys, and three big veterinary outreach days”, with the first starting 13 August. They also have 10 harnesses that they will be handing over to the owners.
Donkey owners
Thobani Dibhari, a resident of eNkanini, owns nine donkeys. He said that as an unemployed person, he uses his donkeys to put food on the table. As a person who grew up in a household that used donkeys for the same reason, Dibhari added that his grandfather was in charge of the donkeys and when he died, Dibhari decided to take charge.
“I started having donkeys at the age of 18,” he said, adding that he only wished he had all the equipment the clinic had for donkeys. “I’m grateful for the education about taking care of my donkeys,” he added. Another donkey owner, Mzikayise Tsalo of Transit Camp said he took his donkeys to the Veterinary Clinic to fix two hooves, but the Veterinary Clinic “ended up attending all four legs of the donkeys, because they were painful for the donkeys,” he said. When asked by Grocott’s Mail how he felt about the clinic’s work, he replied “I’m so happy, because our donkeys are now getting professional help”..
