Apparent Welfare Improvement at British Horse Fair

This excerpt is from Smallholder....

Welfare officers from international animal welfare charity The Donkey Sanctuary have reported an improvement in the welfare of donkeys and other equines at this year’s Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria, which finished earlier this week.

Staff from The Donkey Sanctuary worked closely with the RSPCA, World Horse Welfare, Redwings Horse Sanctuary and The Blue Cross to promote donkey welfare at Britain’s largest horse fair. The team of three welfare officers, a vet and the charity’s head of welfare checked on the condition of donkeys at the fair and made sure that they had adequate access to food and water. They also spoke with donkey owners, sellers and members of the public, offering information and advice about donkey welfare.

The Donkey Sanctuary’s Head of Welfare, Michael Crane, says: “We are pleased to report an improvement in animal welfare at this year’s Appleby Horse Fair. Our welfare officers checked a number of donkeys at the fair and found all of them to be in a reasonable condition with access to hay and water. This is a real step forward from last year when four donkeys in an extremely poor condition were relinquished to The Donkey Sanctuary after being formally signed over to the RSPCA.

Working Animals Face "Firing Squad" in Developing Countries

Ugh. Horrible story. Fortunately the donkey was rescued by the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA).

Here's what they say about "the Firing Squad," a horrible method of "treating" wounded work animals.

We don’t really mean that they will be lined up and shot. No, their suffering will be far more drawn out. They will be ‘fired’ with a red hot iron in the mistaken belief that it will cure a wound.

Humar, pictured on the right, is just one animal to have suffered this traditional, yet ineffective treatment, to horrifying effect.

For many years, Humar had carried heavy loads for his owner and was now suffering from arthritis. Although there are medicines that would have eased his pain and reduced the inflammation, Humar was forced to struggle on. He needed time to rest and recover. Unfortunately, this is far from the treatment he got.

Like many poor people in Morocco, Humar’s owner had little chance of being able to afford a vet – or even find one close by. So he turned to a ‘traditional cure’. This involved repeatedly laying a hot iron onto Humar’s shoulder. His suffering didn’t stop there. Predictably, the ‘cure’ failed and he then later poured boiling hot engine oil all over Humar’s coat.