Egypt

We have been working in Egypt since 2003 in partnership with The Society for the Protection and Welfare of Donkeys and Mules in Egypt (SPWDME).

Donkeys and mules constitute a major part of the total animal population in Egypt, standing at over 3,000,000. They are used for everyday tasks, including carrying both goods and people. There are also hundreds of brick kilns in the areas where we work and each kiln has between 10-15 donkeys working on site.

We are based in Faisal, Giza, 20km southwest of Cairo. From here, we operate our mobile clinics and educational unit throughout the towns and villages of Giza and Kalubia. These include Kenana-Toukh, Kaha, El Desemy, El Saf, Nazlet El Saman, Aouseem, Warden, Abo Ghaleb, Sakara and El Kebabat.

Most donkeys we come across suffer with open wounds caused by poor harnessing. Foot problems are also common, along with eye infections and donkeys beaten by their owners. Our teams visit 11 villages and the brick kilns on a regular basis to offer free routine veterinary care and help owners improve the working conditions for their animals.

Animal welfare ‘breakthrough’ in Egyptian brick kilns

By Dawn Vincent - Posted on 22nd July 2011

Tagged:  

• Egypt
• News release

International animal welfare charity The Donkey Sanctuary has reduced the wounds and sores suffered by over 1,000 of Egypt’s brick kiln donkeys, by designing a modified type of cart harness and training local saddlers to make it.

• Read more

Donkey Sanctuary brings relief to starving animals in Egypt

By Emma Gill - Posted on 8th April 2011

Tagged:  

• Egypt

International animal welfare charity The Donkey Sanctuary teamed up with The Brooke and ESAF (the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends) to bring relief to starving animals usually used in the tourist industry around the Egyptian Pyramids.

• Add new comment
• Read more

Donkey back on its feet thanks to vet care after hoof injury

By Philippa Davies - Posted on 9th March 2011

Tagged:  

• Egypt

A brick kiln donkey which lost one of its hooves in an accident has made a good recovery.
The owner of the El Shahd kiln in Egypt called one of our teams out in July 2010, reporting that the donkey had a hoof abscess.

• Add new comment
• Read more

Our project team in Egypt helps working donkeys and their owners in two very different environments – the brick kilns on the outskirts of Cairo, and the rural villages in the Nile delta.

The kiln donkeys are used to pull carts laden with bricks to and from the firing ovens. Despite the sweltering heat (well over 30°C) they may work long hours without food, water or rest. Many also suffer pain from abscesses in their hooves and open wounds on their bodies caused by the constant chafing of makeshift, ill-fitting harness. They may be beaten with sticks if they don’t work fast enough for the young boys who drive the carts, who are under pressure from their adult supervisors to get the job done in time.

In the rural farming communities along the Nile delta, donkeys have an easier life in some respects. But there, too, they lack basic veterinary care and are plagued by flies and parasites. Hoof abscesses are also common, partly because of poor stabling.

In Egypt we have a base in Giza, 20km south-west of Cairo, from which we operate three vet-led mobile units. In both brick kilns and rural villages, these teams use a combination of veterinary treatment, farriery, harness-making, and school and community education to relieve the suffering of the donkeys and encourage their owners to treat them better. They also train the vets serving these communities, to improve their knowledge of donkey medicine.

About our work

In the late 90s the Donkey Sanctuary decided to help establish and fund a donkey welfare society in Egypt, and by March 2002 the Society for the Protection and Welfare of Donkeys and Mules in Egypt (SPWDME) was up and running. Having started with just one mobile clinic, run by the current project leader Mourad Ragheb and two other people, it now has three vet-led mobile teams who visit many of the brick kilns near the Society’s base at Giza, 20km from Cairo, and many of the rural villages in the Nile Delta. A fourth team of animal health assistants carry out more routine treatments at the brick kilns. We have a farrier and harness maker, both of whom can accompany any of these teams, and an education officer who gives donkey welfare lessons in schools, talks to children in the villages, and also runs workshops for child workers at the brick kilns.