Working animals need your help

THE state pension age in Britain is creeping ever upwards and will rise to 67 within the next decade, meaning people are working longer than ever before.

However, it is worth sparing a thought for working animals in developing countries, which never get to retire and endure punishing working conditions.

Across the world, around 200 million working horses, donkeys, camels, elephants and other animals do the jobs of trucks, tractors and taxis, and support the livelihoods of more than half a billion people in the poorest communities.

Like their owners, they face a lifetime of work, carrying backbreaking loads in extreme temperatures. But SPANA believes a life of work shouldn’t mean a life of suffering.

On International Working Animal Day (June 15), I’m asking everyone to show their support for these hardworking animals to ensure that their welfare is improved and they receive the veterinary treatment they need when they are sick or injured.

Please help give working animals the care they desperately need by visiting www.spana.org/ iwad. Geoffrey Dennis Chief executive, SPANA (the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad)