Welfare groups institute legal action against donkey abbatoir
ANIMAL welfare groups are working on instituting legal action to bar a Bulawayo businessman who set up the country’s first donkey abattoir in Bulawayo from operating.
Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Zimbabwe (VAWZ) animal welfare officer Mrs Mel Hood said a grouping of animal welfare organisations are engaging legal practitioners with a view of stopping Battlefront Investments’ donkey abattoir at Waterford in Bulawayo from starting operations.
“We are pursuing the legal routes. Obviously there are ways we can put this on hold until everybody is consulted. We need to have community consultations. I don’t believe the communities have been consulted and the whole picture put across, I think they have been told yes, we will pay you for your donkey but they haven’t been told in five or 10 years time when the donkey population is gone what are they going to be using? There is a whole range of issues that need addressing here and for the communities and the donkeys themselves we need to sort this out properly,” said Mrs Hood.
Mrs Hood who was accompanied by VAWZ animal welfare inspector Mr Bernard Ndlovu from the organisation’s headquarters in Harare was part of a delegation that met Battlefront Investments’ managing director Mr Gareth Lumsden on Monday last week.
After the meeting the delegation proceeded to a feedlot in Manningdale where the donkeys are being held awaiting slaughter.
The delegation condemned the conditions the beasts of burden were being kept under.
One of the donkeys was lying dead while another was visibly ailing with five of them with broken limbs and a substantial number also in bad condition.
“From the animal welfare point of view there are just huge issues here. We have seen four or five donkeys with broken legs, these donkeys are thin, they are blind, it’s just cruel. These animals should be euthanatised, they shouldn’t be left here, it is just not right.
“From the perspective of the whole project, I think there are effects on the donkey population but even worse on the community who rely on these animals. In the short term it’s going to be dramatic, they are going to sell donkeys because it’s a quick means of getting money . . . ,” said Mrs Hood.
A caretaker at the feedlot, Mr Witness Ngulube said 21 donkeys have died since the animals started being moved into the feed yard in July.
“At the moment we have 175 donkeys, at one stage eight donkeys arrived here already dead while some of them died after sometime due to unknown factors, to date 21 donkeys have died. The problem is that they are just buying sickly looking and very old donkeys.
“However, a number of them are now in good condition. The donkeys we have here were bought from areas such as Kezi, Plumtree, Nkayi and Gokwe. We feed them using grass, molasses and residue from sorghum brewed beer,” said Mr Ngulube.
Zimbabwe National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) official Mrs Beryl