The Remote world of our work: Tunisia
Tunisia is country with a split personality. The costal strip is beloved by tourists and the development and investment has built a feeling of prosperity. Travel a few miles inland, however and you’ll see a completely different world from the luxurious hotels, where life is tough and animals are still part of the daily struggle for survival.
In the northwest, there are large cork-oak forests, and mules are used to thread their way through the trees to retrieve the huge slabs of cork. SPANA has a centre in Bou Salem from where mobile clinics travel up into the hills, often in savage weather during winter months, to treat the equines of the region. In 2008 SPANA treated 6490 mules in Tunisia; the most common issues we dealt with were musculoskeletal and respiratory.
Our second centre is in Kasserine, a poor town situated in a large plain, in central
Tunisia and the donkeys here are among the thinnest in Tunisia. The feed is scarce and the donkeys work hard pulling carts of goods to and from souks and small businesses. The Kasserine team covers a vast area with the mobile clinic, visiting mainly town souks in the region. Some of the souks are situated right next to the roman ruins of Sbeitla and it is humbling to be treating animals in the midst of columns and arches!
For third and final centre is in, Kebili, southern Tunisia, on the edge of the Sahara desert, and most of the souks we work with are in small oasis towns or villages. Particular animal health problems encountered there are those due to the date palms that cover the area and are a major source of income for the local people. The working animals are often fed date waste and this causes terrible caries in the teeth and results in early tooth decay and tooth loss. There is also a high incidence of wounds caused by the sharp spines of the date fronds. In 2008 SPANA treated 1,200 cases of tooth decay in horses, donkeys and mules.
Our team work in tough conditions at the edge of the great desert, they travel thousands of miles every year and last year treated nearly 6000 horses and over 9,000 donkeys. In most cases SPANA is the only available veterinary service.
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