MOT in Mali
Every year, SPANA’s team in Mali visits the town of Niono. These visits provide vital care to the rural donkeys who otherwise receive no veterinary attention, as well as support to the communities that depend on them.
Originally, SPANA started working with the donkeys of Bamako, Mali’s capital, who pull carts loaded with household rubbish to central dumps and are owned by local cooperatives. Regular visits are carried out by the SPANA team and owners bring donkeys to our clinic for hospitalisation if they have severe problems.
As a result, the health of these donkeys has improved tremendously and we are now able to spread our impact further, to outlying towns sometimes quite distant from Bamako.
In January, our team visited Niono. Situated on the edge of the Sahara, Niono is a major rice growing area. All the rice is transported from fields to mills and markets by hundreds of working donkeys.
SPANA’s visit to Niono is an annual two-day event, organised with the help of the local agriculture office.
There was a crowd waiting when the team arrived early in the morning. Whilst the SPANA technicians unloaded the mobile clinic and set up the veterinary equipment and medicines, Dr Amadou gathered the owners around and discussed with them ways to improve harnessing and prevent wounds, one of the biggest welfare problems in this area.
Over two days, SPANA vets treated 526 donkeys and 10 horses dealing with back sores, lameness problems and abscesses. Sticks used for beating to steer donkeys were confiscated and burnt, as were some particularly badly constructed saddle pads.
Owners and their donkeys waited patiently for their turn in the treatment queue and it was humbling to see how eagerly owners presented their animals for what is, in effect, their annual MOT with SPANA!
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