animal welfare

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.

The brick kilns in India are associated with extremely low pay, poor working conditions and a lack of regulation. Equids, however, may provide a route out of poverty by enabling workers to access a higher income. The relatively higher financial returns from healthy equids could also motivate welfare improvements. We used a mixed-methods approach including livelihoods questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and welfare assessments to investigate the links between poverty, equid ownership and equid welfare in the brick kilns of Ahmedabad, India. Whilst equid owners earned more than non-owners during the kiln season, the opposite trend was found for these workers for work conducted outside of the kilns during the off-season. Equid ownership was, however, strongly influenced by social factors and, within certain communities, equid ownership may be the only viable escape from extreme poverty. In terms of welfare, equid behaviour was better for owners with better financial security, likely due to the availability of resources. Equid health improved with longevity of ownership, suggesting that owners who view working with their equids as a long-term partnership are more likely to ensure their equids are kept in good health. For stakeholders aiming to improve both human health and equid welfare, a 'one welfare' approach which values the intrinsic connections between poverty and both equid ownership and equid welfare could greatly increase success.

The last twenty years have seen increased interest in animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and animal-assisted activity (AAA). However, there has been little research exploring these interactions as experienced by the animals themselves. In this paper, we bring a “more-than-human” lens to concepts and practices within AAA/T, synthesizing ideas about animal sentience and subjectivity that have emerged within animal geography scholarship and animal welfare science. We draw from empirical work with practitioners involved in donkey-facilitated learning (DFL) to examine the knowledge base of equine facilitators, including their beliefs, opinions, and assumptions about donkeys, their understanding of animal welfare, and their role in DFL. We discuss how knowledge of donkeys is mobilized to ensure more-than-human welfare during DFL; how animals’ “choice” to participate is encouraged and centered; how ideas of nonhuman labor create opportunities for considering more-than-human welfare; and how practitioners advocate for animals and embed practices of care for humans and nonhumans.

Donkeys (Equus asinus) are facing a global crisis. Their welfare, and even survival, is being compromised as the demand for their skins increases. This demand is driven by the need to supply raw materials to produce ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicine made from collagen extracted from donkey skins. Since there is no productive chain for donkey skin production outside of China, the global trade is an entirely extractive industry that has resulted in the decimation of some local donkey populations. The donkey skin trade is demonstrably unsustainable, from the ethical issues associated with poor welfare, to the biosecurity and human health risks the trade poses; and it violates both legal frameworks and moral expectations at both a national and global level.

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.

Equids play a fundamental role in supporting livelihoods in many parts of the world. Being able to access the animal’s welfare, especially while performing tasks that involve high levels of physical effort such as those found in agroforestry activities, is of utmost importance. The Donkey Sanctuary, a UK-based international charitable institution, has designed a project that aims to develop a set of tools to evaluate the working conditions of donkeys and mules worldwide. This requires the measurement of several different parameters, including the force exerted by an animal to pull a load during work. This article presents the stages of design, development and implementation of a device capable of carrying out these measurements with minimal human intervention and with negligible impact on the task operating conditions. Data obtained from real field conditions validates the devised measurement method.

Donkeys (Equus asinus) are widely used throughout Ethiopia and play essential roles in a variety of everyday and income-generating tasks for the people that use them. The challenges faced by people and their working equids vary across communities and geographic locations. This may have implications for how donkeys are perceived by the people they work for, the roles they fulfil and ultimately their welfare.

Two complementary methodological approaches were used in this study to explore the socio-economic value of donkeys for their owners and the welfare of the donkeys in rural and urban Ethiopia.

Using a questionnaire, donkey owners were asked about their donkeys, their attitudes and beliefs related to donkey use and ownership, and the role donkeys played in their lives.

Animal-based welfare assessments were also conducted on a sample of donkeys from different locations, with the overarching aim of the study to investigate differences in use, beliefs, and donkey welfare between rural and urban locations.

In both rural and urban locations, working donkeys are critical for their owners' income-generating activity and therefore their livelihoods. The work they undertake differs substantially between locations, as does their welfare. Work in each setting presents its own challenges and these are reflected in the behaviour and physical health of the donkeys. Rural donkeys showed more apathetic behaviour, a higher ectoparasite burden and greater evidence of tethering/hobbling. Urban donkeys were more alert and had a wider range of body condition scores.

The findings highlight marked differences in the role and welfare of donkeys between different areas within the same country, demonstrating the importance of understanding the context, both from the perspective of humans and working equids, prior to staging interventions intended to benefit either party.

Donkeys (Equus asinus) face a global crisis. The health, welfare, and even survival of donkeys are being compromised as the demand for their skins increases. It is driven by the production of ejiao, a traditional Chinese remedy believed by some to have medicinal properties. It is estimated that the ejiao industry currently requires approximately 4.8 million donkey skins per year. Since there is no productive chain for donkey skin production outside of China, the activity is extractive and has resulted in the decimation of donkeys. Gestation is 12 months in donkeys, increasing the risk of extinction if such practices are not controlled. In this scenario, the donkeys are collected (purchased for low prices, stolen, and collected from the side of the roads) and are then often transported for long distances, usually without water, food, or rest. The trade, in Brazil, poses significant biosecurity risks, particularly because examinations are rarely conducted and therefore infectious diseases, such as glanders and infectious anemia, remain undetected. Furthermore, in chronic stress situations, the immune system is suppressed, increasing the biosecurity risk, especially because donkeys are a silent carrier of diseases. Rarely there is traceability with animals from different origins being put together in “fake farms”, before being delivered to slaughterhouses. The opportunistic strategy of collecting animals, or buying for low prices, keeping them without access to food and veterinary assistance, is what makes this trade profitable. Our experience in donkey welfare and the global skin trade suggest that it will be enormously challenging and cost-prohibitive to run a trade at the standards required to be considered humane, sustainable, and safe. Although donkeys are being blamed for the involvement in road accidents, it is not an ethical solution to maintain this trade as an alternative. Moreover, the ecological role of donkeys in native ecosystems has not been elucidated, and some studies indicate they could even have a positive effect. Regardless of the future the donkeys will have; we must guarantee a life with the least dignity to the animals under our responsibility.

It is widely assumed that working equid husbandry is carried out by men, and women are often not recognised as facilitating equid welfare. The aim of this study is to investigate how working equids contribute to women’s livelihoods in six of the World Horse Welfare programme target communities in Guatemala and determine what roles women have in their care. Thirty-four face-to-face interviews were carried out and data were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. This study found that working equids support women by reducing domestic drudgery, generating income, feeding livestock and saving time. Thirty-two women played a major role in the care of one or more equids, and overall, women did not feel that they knew enough about equid husbandry. Thirty-one women said they would attend training opportunities if the advertising was clear and they felt that women were able to join. This study recognises the contribution of working equids to women’s livelihoods, describes the roles women play in equid husbandry and addresses the discrepancies between women’s roles and their capacity to undertake these tasks. This emphasises the need for extension services to include and cater for women, improving equid welfare and their ability to continue supporting women’s livelihoods.