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May 22nd, 2010 | Africa

Donkeys…and the “Beasts” that burden them…

In Ethiopia, donkeys and horses are using to transport almost everything, by the majority of the population, who can’t afford trucks or smaller vehicles… If you think Botswana has a lot of donkeys, think again… I have seen guys tending herds of well over a hundred animals here… This post is not about the donkeys themselves though…

The donkey pulling this cart is obviously struggling, yet it's owner continues to put whip to hide..

I have over the last few days been sickened by the way many of these animals are treated and have often been on the verge of pulling over and giving a cart driver a severe tongue-lashing…and perhaps a bit of “panel-beating” to go with it…

These two donkeys are pulling a cart loaded with bags of charcoal... I struggled to pick just one bag up in Addis...

It is a heart-rending sight to see an over-loaded cart being pulled up a hill by a donkey or horse, which is obviously under severe stress, and is being beaten with whips and sticks to make it move forward or faster… I came across a donkey, pulling a cart onto which had been loaded a cement mixer… The animal had collapsed under the strain, and the driver and his assistants were whipping it to get it to stand up again… The sight was so shocking to me, that for miles afterward I rode in a daze, numbed by the cruelty I had witnessed…

The local populace seem to have no regard whatsoever for the condition of their beasts of burden, and once they have reached old age, these animals are simply abandoned, and can be found in every village you pass through, standing forlornly on the verges, or even in the middle of the road, their ribs and hip bones almost bursting from their hides… Some of them even have broken legs… When they do finally fall over and die of starvation, their carcasses are left where they fell, food for the vultures and the crows…

Abandoned... This horse has a broken left front leg...

In Dilla, an old gray mare stood in the very middle of the busy main road, her head drooping down between her forelegs… She was so thin and obviously uncared for, that I felt my eyes mist over when I first saw her. More than an hour later, when I was searching for a Sim card, she was still in the same position, trucks, busses and Tuk-Tuks driving around her to avoid colliding with this poor animal…

“Who does that poor horse belong to?” I asked the Tuk-Tuk driver…

“It is thrown away by the owner,” he answered, “It is now too old to work…”

“Why do they allow it to stand in the street then?”

“The owner will hope some truck or bus will knock it down, then he will get some money…” was his reply… “This horse is blind, and is here every day, because it can’t see to find food and get away from the road…”

He must have seen the angry and disgusted look on my face, as he quickly changed the subject…

To all those animal activists around the world, looking for a new cause to champion, pack your bags and head for Kenya and Ethiopia… There’s a lifetime of work to be done up here…

©GBWT 2010

1 comment to Donkeys…and the “Beasts” that burden them…

  • Mark Behr

    In a land of such enormous human rights abuse, it is little wonder that they care about nothing except where the next meal will come from. This is Africa and all I can say is “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika”.

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