As you’ll be aware, the situation in Israel and Gaza is worrying, but we would like to reassure you that our staff and the donkeys in our care at the Sanctuary in Israel and Rescue Centre in the West Bank are safe and well.
We would like to thank you all for your social media message, phone calls and emails to ask us how our staff and donkeys are. It is appreciated.
Sadly our vets have had to pause their mobile vet clinics in the West Bank as they are unable to travel at the moment. They are doing their best to help donkey owners via video call, as we did during the Covid pandemic. As soon as we have more news we will of course update you.
In brighter news I’m pleased to say that our new team in Egypt are continuing their work to help the donkeys of the brick kiln in El Saf. You can see a report below.
News from the El Saf brick kilns, Egypt
Dr. Shaaban and his dedicated team are actively working to make a difference to the lives of the donkeys in the El Saf brick kilns. Just this past weekend, our CEO, Andy, travelled to Egypt alongside one of our Patrons, Peter Egan. We wanted to give Peter a firsthand experience of the remarkable improvements in animal welfare being achieved.
Dr Shaaban’s team are seeing more and more donkeys as word spreads about the veterinary care they are able to provide. During the summer the team will work from 4am until 2pm, and in winter from 6am to 4pm, six days a week, to align with the donkeys’ working hours.
Eye infections and conditions are very common in the brick kiln donkeys and mules, caused by lack of veterinary care and the working conditions in the kilns. As our team continues their work we hope to see a marked improvement to the animals’ health.
The mule was soon back on its feet and feeling more comfortable.
During the first three months of the project the team have already visited 41 kilns and treated 345 donkeys and mules. It takes around 2-3 months to visit all the kilns in the area – so the donkeys will receive regular check ups, including emergency call outs if needed.
Just over 40% of the donkeys and mules the team see are lame – often caused by a hoof abscess. Here you can see Moharam and Hamed treating a donkey in need, draining the abscess to relieve the donkey’s pain.
Soon the donkey was feeling a lot more comfortable following treatment.
We’ll look forward to sending you more updates from Egypt in the coming months – and thank you once again for all your support which has helped us to launch our new programme in Egypt.
