Day Two in Ksar Oun: Questions, Suggestions and Smiles

We are writing these posts to reflect our perspective of this unique opportunity to spend time with Tunisian donkeys and the communities they live in.  We have a broad audience and are trying to have something of interest for all - our sponsors, our global friends and family, animal lovers and a mix of curious readers. We are not here to simply make an animal welfare report; we want to assess the situation and work towards helpful sustainable solutions. Feel free to give us some feedback in the comment section below, and be sure to click on the photos to see a larger images.

After time for reflection and a good nights sleep, we headed back to Ksar Oun for a second day (September 4) of donkey care and a little sheep surgery. Before we began the veterinary rounds, Tricia took the time to talk to Ahlem about her concerns regarding the general status of the donkeys in the community. Ahlem welcomed her honesty and agreed it would be good to share our suggestions with the owners.

Our first patient of the day was about 6 months old and had been born at the farm. He will be used to carry water to the sheep in the fields. He was thin and had weak muscling, especially in his hindquarters. We explained to the owner he needed more feed and less hobbling to develop properly and she seemed to understand the importance of our suggestions.

The second patient was a very gentle brown donkey who was about 15 years old. He was extremely thin, with sharp teeth points, long cracked hooves and a weak hoof frog (the shock absorber of the foot). We spent time fixing what we could; we would have liked to fix up his roof for more shade !

This donkey had a mishapened frog from chronically overgrown hooves and lack of exercise.

We had a minor challenge with one very small but feisty fellow who was about 6 years old. We took it as a sign of health to have one of our patients have an opinion about our work. It gave Tricia the opportunity to use acupressure on his upper lip (like a twitch) which is thought to release endorphins and have a calming effect. It worked and the owner was impressed !

This donkey's long foot had a healthy frog beneath  the overgrown tissue and is an example of a normal hoof.                                   

The last donkey of the morning was a very small young donkey who is not used for anything. He stays in a sandy area and had very long toes.

We used the toeing knife to chop off the excess toe, and then carved a walking surface for him.

We had quite an audience for the morning and Jaber had a little fun showing them how to use a stethoscope. We hope we inspired some future doctors and veterinarians!

Before we took a lunch break, Ahlem, Emna and Jaber performed surgery on two sheep to successfully remove external abdominal masses. Tricia took a lot of pictures but won't post them here. If anyone wants to see them, let us know !

A very hot wind blew into Ksar Oun in the afternoon, so we took a long break back at Ahlem's home. It gave us the opportunity to discuss the donkey's situation in the community. The donkey husbandry practices have been in place for a long time and are quite different from Tricia's animal 'good quality of life' point of view. Jaber explained the livestock are key to the residents and to observe how all the animals are kept; it is different than in America. The livestock live in small pens unless they are herded in open fields; the camels are tethered until used; dogs are tied up unless they are street dogs scavenging for food; cats and chickens mostly roam free.

It seems to Tricia the community's donkeys may have the worst situation. The owners certainly seem to care about the animals and the living areas are clean. The residents are used to their traditional ways and some of the practices are maintained because 'that's the way its done'.  Ahlem explained they hobble the legs because they believe it prevents the donkey's legs from splaying. They are kept on short tethers with ropes tied at their ankles because otherwise they will be too hard to handle or run away.

In Tricia's opinion, the first main concern is limitation of movement due to hobbling and tethering. This may not be a huge problem short term, but because the donkeys are not used regularly this restriction seems to be leading to health issues. We noticed lack of muscle development, contracted soft tissues, overgrown hooves, and scarring on legs. Even if there are two donkeys at one farm, they were often not close enough to have physical contact.

The second problem appears to be malnutrition. This may be the result of lack of family resources to provide adequate grains and perhaps lack of knowledge of donkey's nutritional needs. The 'hay' is strawlike with minimal cereal grains; the grains (mostly barley) that are fed are very hard.  The older donkeys' sharp dental points or worn arcades limit their ability to chew these rough feeds. The donkeys can't fend for themselves because they seem to have little or no access to grazing.

We pondered a lot of questions and don't have  answers yet but at least the discussion has begun and we are grateful to have the opportunity to make observations. The heat subsided as the sun went down and we went out into a mini sandstorm to see a few more donkeys before leaving. Tricia had a very heavy heart for the welfare of the donkeys and their role in the community life.

Emna gets in more farriery practice

 The first farmer we saw shared this small brown donkey had weakness and stiffness like the donkey we saw yesterday.

a curious owner watches Jaber's careful foot care while a few kids watch from afar

We're happy to report the last donkey of the evening gave us great hope. It was quite dark as the sun had set, but we could see his obviously shiny hair coat and good body condition. He was curious to say hello to us; his feed trough was filled with an interesting palatable looking mixture. We learned this donkey is used regularly and is fed a mixture of cereal grains with ground dates, nuts and pulp from olive oil pressing.

You can see by the smiles that Tricia's heavy heart was lifted and she praised the owner for his good care and asked him to spread the word of what he was doing to his fellow community members.

A healthy donkey brings smiles in the moonlight