New vet clinics will help 60,000 animals a year
Dr Siraj, a Brooke trained government vet, conducts a welfare assessment on Adi the horse with his owner, Wako
Brooke is constructing three more veterinary clinics in Ethiopia over the next year, which are each set to help around 20,000 animals a year.
The clinics, run by local service providers trained by Brooke, will bring several benefits to the communities they’re based in. Preventative care like farriery, handling advice and improved harnessing can and will save the lives of working horses and donkeys.
To be built in rural areas of Shashamane, Akaki and Halaba where there is an urgent need for veterinary care, the new clinics will include a pharmacy, laboratory, treatment room and shelter for animals to rest in the shade.
The new clinics are part of Brooke’s ongoing mission to improve vaccination services and animal health infrastructure in Ethiopia to help the working horses, donkeys and mules depended on by many small-scale farmers.
Ethiopia has a huge agricultural sector and one of the largest working equine populations in the world, including 8.8 million donkeys used for transporting people and goods.
Vets at clinical skills training workshop hosted by Brooke and Jimma University Animal Welfare and Health Training Centre, Ethiopia.
These animals play a critical role in transportation, reducing travel time for water collection, firewood gathering, and market trips.
They can alleviate the burden on women and girls, giving them more time for education and reducing gendered workload.
Veterinary services are often lacking, particularly in poorer, rural parts of the country, leading to preventable suffering and loss of life, as sick and injured animals are left untreated.
Brooke is the world’s largest working equine welfare organisation, making immediate and long-term changes to transform the health and welfare of vulnerable animals and communities that depend on them.
The QATO Foundation, an organisation promoting animal welfare under human care, will be financing the construction and equipment for the Shashamane clinic.