working donkey

Slavery, in the form of ‘debt-bondage’, is rife in Indian brick kilns, where the enforcement of labour laws is poor. Working equids support brick-kiln workers by transporting raw bricks into the kilns, but the situation of equids and their owners within the brick kilns is relatively unknown. We describe the welfare of donkeys (Equus asinus) owned under conditions of debt-bondage, examine the links between owner and donkey behaviour, and outline the living conditions of both donkeys and humans working in the brick kilns of Gujarat, India. We then explore the unique experience of debt-bondage by donkey owners, compare migration trends to those of non-donkey-owning workers and assess impacts on their children’s education. The physical and behavioural conditions of donkeys reflected that of their owners, creating negative feedback loops and potentially reducing productivity. All donkey owners experienced debt-bondage and were particularly vulnerable to unexpected financial loss. Donkey owners, unlike non-owners, migrated within their home state, enabling their children to attend school. Our work highlights the need for policy reform within the brick-kiln industry to acknowledge the pivotal role of working donkeys in supporting human livelihoods.

Working equids represent major sources of energy worldwide, and assume an increasingly important role in line with increasing requirements for sustainable energy. The effectiveness of their contributions relies on welfare, especially in the case of donkeys that, due to their size, face more adverse working conditions compared to larger equids. In this study, heart rate and force exerted were monitored while logging using three methods: direct pull, sled, and vehicles. A swingle tree incorporating a dynamometer and data logger was developed for this project, allowing continuous recording of forces. It was hypothesized that logging techniques that suspend (partially or totally) the load from the ground, reduce the force exerted, thus reducing physical effort. This study also aimed to understand if heart rate can be used as an alternative proxy measure when pulling different loads using different methods. Results showed that the greatest force was measured during direct pull (369.66 N), requiring 20% greater force compared to the sled (299.10 N, P <0.001), and 60% greater force than the vehicle (125.11 N, P <0.001). The sled required an additional 58% of force compared to the vehicle (P <0.001). This determines vehicles are the best option for reducing the force exerted by donkeys. Affordability and skills needed to work with this technique, however, are important considerations. Sleds represent a user-friendly solution; reducing the force needed when compared to direct pull, requiring less skills and equipment. The dynamometer proved an excellent method for force monitoring. Heart rate as a proxy measure for force didn’t provide accurate data for lighter loads. Increasing load weight, followed by the increasing force requirements, correlation and explanatory power became greater, indicating that with heavier logs, or methods that display greater force requirements, heart rate may be used as a proxy method for force, but further studies are needed.

Background

Working donkeys represent an important source of energy worldwide. Poor working conditions and equipment affect their ability to work. Poorly designed, ill-fitted harness causes inefficient transfer of power and leads to health and welfare issues. Using technology to assess different types of collars provides a better understanding of those that are most efficient for working donkeys.

Materials and methods

Seven different collars were tested using pressure pads. Contact area, median, maximum and peak pressures were obtained for the whole collar and critical points. Eight donkeys pulled 20% and 40% of their body weight, using each collar, under controlled conditions.

Results

Contact area and pressures vary between collars and effort, with design and expansion capacity of the collars playing a major role. Simple collars designed specifically for donkeys performed well, with full collars designed for horses also having good results. Due to reduced expansion capacity and contact in the critical points, the breast collars were the least effective.

Conclusion

Design, appropriate padding and manufacturing materials and adjustment capacity are key features for good collars, and such parameters are of paramount importance in terms of health and welfare for working donkeys.

The UK public and veterinary profession often think of the equine charity sector as dealing with issues directly related to the UK equine population - overproduction, rehoming, shelter and welfare. However, The Donkey Sanctuary, like many UK-based equine charities, also works in Europe and further afield to try to address a much broader range of issues.

Working donkeys (Equus africanus asinus) are vital to the development and support of people's livelihoods in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas of Ethiopia. However, despite their critical role in providing transport, food security, and income generation to some of the poorest and most marginalized households, donkey contributions to human livelihoods have been largely unexplored. Donkey users, veterinary surgeons, business owners, and civil servants were interviewed to investigate the role humans play in shaping donkey lives while furthering our understanding of the social and economic impacts of working donkeys to human lives. Findings are discussed through seven guiding themes; donkeys as generators of income, the relationship between donkeys and social status, donkeys and affect, empowerment through donkeys, the role of donkeys in reducing vulnerability and encouraging resilience, donkey husbandry, and gender dynamics all of which gave a broader and richer insight into the value of donkeys. Donkeys are an important support in rural, peri-urban, and urban settings through the creation of economic security, independence, and participation in local saving schemes. In addition, donkeys provide social status, empowerment to marginalized groups such as women and the very poor and provide a sense of companionship. Whether the interviewee was a donkey user or a key informant appeared to influence their views on donkeys and their welfare, as did their location. The variations in views and practices between urban and rural settings suggests that assessing the socioeconomic value of donkeys in different locations within the same area or country is critical, rather than assuming that similar views are held between compatriots. Despite their centrality to many people's lives in Ethiopia, working donkeys often hold lowly status, are misunderstood, and given little husbandry and healthcare.

Trypanocides are essential in trypanosomosis management, but evidence regarding treatment efficacy in equids is scarce. The objective of this study was to establish the relative efficacy of three trypanocides (Diminasan® 3.5 mg/kg IM, Cymelarsan® 0.25 mg/kg IV and Samorin® 0.5 mg/kg IV) with respect to improvement of clinical parameters and parasitic burden and to evaluate adverse drug reactions. A prospective randomised clinical efficacy study was performed in ten villages in The Gambia. Owners were invited to present horses and donkeys for free examination (history, clinical examination and jugular blood sample for packed cell volume (PCV) and total serum protein). Horses and donkeys were enrolled if they fulfilled at least 2/5 inclusion criteria for trypanosomosis (anaemia (PCV<24%), poor body condition (≤1.5), limb or ventral oedema, abortion or pyrexia). Randomised trypanocide treatment was administered and the animals were observed for adverse reactions. Follow up evaluation was performed at one and two weeks to assess treatment effect. Blood samples for each animal collected at weeks 1, 2 and 3 underwent PCR analysis with validated specific primers1 for T. vivax west (TVW), T. congolense savannah (TCS) and T. brucei (TBR). 254/710 animals examined fulfilled study inclusion criteria with follow up data obtained for 243. Age, gender, species, median PCV (22%; range 8-26) and body condition score (median 1.5/5; range 0.5-2.5) were comparable between treatment groups (p>0.1). No immediate adverse reactions occurred following Cymelarsan® or Diminasan®. Immediate reactions occurred in 12/45 (27%) of donkeys treated with Samorin® ranging from neck scratching, lip smacking to tachycardia, cold extremities, sweating and hypothermia. Demeanour classifications improved following treatment with Samorin® or Diminasan® (p=0.002). PCV increased at 1 and 2 weeks post treatment for all treatment groups (p<0.001). On preliminary analysis of PCR results (n=65), animals representing four villages were positive before treatment (week 1) for TVW (55/65; 85%), TCS (44/65; 67%) and TBR (17/65; 26%) with mixed infection common (45/65; 69%). Trypanosome species profile varied between villages (p<0.05). Post treatment positives occurred in all groups for all Trypanosoma sp but with a marked decrease in prevalence (Fig 1). Positives were most common in the Cymelarsan® group, particularly for TCS (7/13; 54%). Two weeks post treatment Diminasan® (15/19; 79%) and Samorin® (19/23; 83%) had reduced parasitaemia below the threshold of detection in most cases. The data support the continuation of treatment with Diminasan® and Samorin® (with careful titration of dosing in donkeys). Further investigation to quantify parasitaemia in post treatment positives will aid differentiation between treatment failure, reduced parasitaemia, new infections and residual non-viable parasite DNA.

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by The Donkey Sanctuary.

This study was carried out to assess the impact of animal healthcare services on poor donkey owners in Ethiopia. The services provided by the Donkey Sanctuary were used as a case study. A questionnaire survey was designed and carried out in the areas around Debre Zeit in the Highlands of Ethiopia. The staff carried out a survey at 10 sites. Six of these were in Donkey Sanctuary project areas and four were in control areas. The results showed that in project areas donkeys were significantly healthier and more productive than in non-project areas. Donkey owners in project sites felt better off for having access to animal healthcare services; donkey owners in non-project sites were less confident about their incomes and the health of their animals.

Over 38% of the world equine population (114 million) is made up of donkeys and more than 97% are found in developing countries and are specifically kept for work. Despite their significant contribution to the national economy, the attention given to study the infectious diseases of working donkeys is minimal. To address this The Donkey Sanctuary has been conducting studies in collaboration with Addis Ababa and Nairobi Universities, Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) in Dubai and the Trypanosomosis Research Centre (TRC) in Kenya. These studies have shown a high prevalence of some important infectious diseases.

Helminthosis

Helminth infection profiles of working donkeys living in semi-arid or tropical conditions are often very different from those of equids in temperate climates. They are often diagnosed with a high worm burden or faecal egg count irrespective of their age. The high level of age-independent infection may show that donkeys either do not develop protective immunity or that they might have become immuno-compromised, consequent upon the stress of their work intensity and/or undernourishment and general poor husbandry.

Trypanosomosis

Although there is a general belief that donkeys are more resistant, trypanosomosis has been shown to cause severe clinical disease in working donkeys. Epidemiological studies in Ethiopia and Kenya have shown that the prevalence of trypanosomosis was as high as 65%, often with mixed infections of two or more species. In both countries T. congolense was the predominant species followed by T. brucei and T. vivax; often associated with anaemia and poor body condition. Trypanosomosis is claimed by local farmers as the major health constraint of donkeys in both countries. Recent serological studies by The Donkey Sanctuary in collaboration with the CVRL showed a sero-prevalence of 1.1% (n=662) T. equiperdum in Ethiopia.

Piroplasmosis

Equine piroplasmosis is one of the most significant tick-borne diseases of donkeys in Ethiopia and Kenya. Recent studies in Ethiopia in collaboration with CVRL showed sero-prevalence of 53.3% to 58% T. equi and 13.2%-13.3% B. caballi (n=15-395) Most of the cases were associated with anaemia. Similar studies in Kenya reported only T. equi with a sero-prevalence of 81.2% (n=314).

Viral and bacterial diseases

A recent study in Ethiopia in collaboration with CVRL showed a sero-prevalence of 8.5% (n=165) AHS, 84.6% (n=104) EHV-4, 20.2% (n=104) EHV-1, 0.5% (n=662) glanders and 0.2% (n=657) EIA. Similar study made in Kenya also showed a sero-prevalence of 35.2% (n=398) AHS. Donkeys showing typical clinical signs of AHS were noted in Kenya and Ethiopia. Although no epidemiological studies are available, cases of tetanus, strangles, rabies, anthrax and dermatophilosis are common occurrences in donkeys. These studies highlight how important infectious diseases in donkeys are and the need to consider them in overall epidemiological studies and for sound control and prevention strategies.

Although fasciolosis is an important livestock disease worldwide, the public health importance of human fasciolosis has increased in recent years and it is recognised as an important re-emerging zoonotic disease, its epidemiology and pathogenicity in donkeys, and the epidemiological role they may play have not been determined.

Objectives

To investigate the epidemiology and pathogenicity of fasciolosis in donkeys.

Study design

Cross-sectional coprological and retrospective post-mortem study.

Methods

Faecal samples collected from 803 randomly selected working donkeys from the central region of Ethiopia were analysed by a sedimentation-centrifugation-flotation technique. Further data on liver-flukes and associated pathologies were obtained by routine post mortem examinations of 112 donkeys, subjected to euthanasia on welfare grounds or died. Data were analysed using a generalised linear model and multivariate binary logistic regression in R statistical package with significance level of statistical tests set at P<0.05.

Results

Infection prevalences of 44.4% and 41.9% were obtained in coprologically and post mortem examined donkeys, respectively, irrespective of their age. Both Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica were identified with the mean infection intensity of 30 flukes. Older donkeys (≥8 years) were found harbouring a significantly higher worm burden (P<0.0001). Gross and histopathologies of hyperplasia and thickening of the bile ducts, fibrosis of large portal areas and irregular bile duct proliferation and hypertrophy were noted.

Conclusions

The high infection prevalence of fasciolosis and the associated hepatic pathologies in working donkeys shows not only the susceptibility of donkeys and the impact it has on their health, but also indicates the important role they can play in the epidemiology of both livestock and human fasciolosis. These further demonstrate the need for these animals to be considered in the overall epidemiological studies and for sound control strategies and prevention of fasciolosis.