Ugandan has banned sale and slaughter of donkeys in the country with immediate effect, claiming the trade was increasingly threatening the existence of the beasts of burden in the country.
Consequently, Kenyan veterinarians under the umbrella body, Africa Veterinary Technical Association (AVTA), have hailed the move and asked the Kenyan government to borrow a leaf from the neighbouring country and scrap the trade.
In a notice availed to the press in Naivasha, the Ugandan ministry of Agriculture and Animal Industry noted with concern the rising demand for donkey products in the Far East, a move said to have negative effects on poor families who depend on donkeys to ferry water, farm produce and firewood for their livelihoods.
In the notice, the ministry banned the sale and purchase of donkeys for slaughter across the country, and the closure of all slaughterhouses targeting the domestic animal commonly referred to as the beasts of burden. According to the AVTA chairman Benson Ameda, the decision was long overdue as studies had earlier in the year indicated that the number of donkeys in the country was declining at an alarming rate.
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Ameda further noted that there was no comparison between the numbers of donkeys slaughtered per day to those born; a move he said was increasing the threat to the existence of the domestic animal. “We as experts salute the Ugandan government for the noble decision to ban donkey trade and urge Kenyan government to follow suit,” he advised
The veterinarian claimed that thousands of families relied on donkeys either through the transportation of various goods or working in the farms, adding that since the opening up of the two donkey slaughterhouses there has been a drop in the number of donkeys across the country and which could get worse in the coming days.
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National chairman Kenya Veterinary Association (KVA) Samuel Kahariri said the donkey trade was no longer sustainable and nor beneficial to farmers in Kenya as it was lacking breeding plan.
He said the trade was characterized by exploitative costs, lucrative skin business for the traders and declining donkey populations, and urged the Kenyan government to consider banning the trade until such a time when a clear policy guideline will be put in place to mitigate the impeding dangers posed by the trade.
