Five ways SPANA helps working animals around the world
SPANA has been improving the lives of horses, donkeys, mules, elephants, oxen, and camels in some of the world's poorest countries since 1923, here's how...
This is a feature from Issue 11 of Charitable Traveller. Click to read more from this issue.
1. Providing Free Veterinary Care
For many working Animals in developing countries, SPANA’s staff, are the only vets they will see in their lifetime. Whether it’s treating a donkey with colic, dressing a horse’s wounded leg or helping a camel suffering from parasites, SPANA can do it. In 2021, the charity treated 291,527 working animals. A course of antibiotics can cost under £10 and a tetanus injection, just £7.
3. Educating Animal Owners
Many of the injuries SPANA’s vets see could be prevented if the animal’s owners had a better understanding of animal care. The charity tries to ensure it trains wherever it treats. By building skills and knowledge within communities, SPANA is helping to improve animal welfare and alleviate suffering sustainably. In 2021 it trained 87,614 animal owners, preventing injuries and promoting compassion.
2. Ensuring a better future
Children are the animal owners of tomorrow. and in many cases are responsible for working animals from a young age. But many are fearful of them and don’t understand their needs. SPANA’s animal welfare education programme worked with 71,204 kids last year, passing on essential knowledge, promoting responsible ownership and building animal empathy.
4. Training more vets
With an estimated 200 million working animals around the world, SPANA can’t possibly provide veterinary care to all of them. Instead, the charity tries to pass on its knowledge and expertise to other vets, and in 2021 it provided professional training to 4,070. SPANA’s training improves skills in developing countries around the world, supporting not just vets, but vet students, farriers, technicians, and teachers.
5. Building Awareness
The collapse of vital local industries due to the pandemic, as well as global political instability, has placed exceptional pressure on animal owners, many of whom have been left struggling to feed or even keep their working animals. Across the world’s poorest communities, hardship will only grow as they face the effects of climate change, which in the past year alone has caused devastating droughts and floods in countries like Ethiopia and Botswana. SPANA’s campaigning continues to highlight the plight of working animals the world over.
1. Providing Free Veterinary Care
For many working Animals in developing countries, SPANA’s staff, are the only vets they will see in their lifetime. Whether it’s treating a donkey with colic, dressing a horse’s wounded leg or helping a camel suffering from parasites, SPANA can do it. In 2021, the charity treated 291,527 working animals. A course of antibiotics can cost under £10 and a tetanus injection, just £7.
2. Ensuring a better future
Children are the animal owners of tomorrow. and in many cases are responsible for working animals from a young age. But many are fearful of them and don’t understand their needs. SPANA’s animal welfare education programme worked with 71,204 kids last year, passing on essential knowledge, promoting responsible ownership and building animal empathy.
3. Educating Animal Owners
Many of the injuries SPANA’s vets see could be prevented if the animal’s owners had a better understanding of animal care. The charity tries to ensure it trains wherever it treats. By building skills and knowledge within communities, SPANA is helping to improve animal welfare and alleviate suffering sustainably. In 2021 it trained 87,614 animal owners, preventing injuries and promoting compassion.
4. Training more vets
With an estimated 200 million working animals around the world, SPANA can’t possibly provide veterinary care to all of them. Instead, the charity tries to pass on its knowledge and expertise to other vets, and in 2021 it provided professional training to 4,070. SPANA’s training improves skills in developing countries around the world, supporting not just vets, but vet students, farriers, technicians, and teachers.
5. Building Awareness
The collapse of vital local industries due to the pandemic, as well as global political instability, has placed exceptional pressure on animal owners, many of whom have been left struggling to feed or even keep their working animals. Across the world’s poorest communities, hardship will only grow as they face the effects of climate change, which in the past year alone has caused devastating droughts and floods in countries like Ethiopia and Botswana. SPANA’s campaigning continues to highlight the plight of working animals the world over.
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