In 2024/2025 the Animal Recovery Mission – ARM – launched 2 new undercover investigations into Arizona’s main supplying dairy farms for COCA COLA OWNED ‘FairLife milk’.
Coke and FairLife promised reform after ARM exposed the cruelty in 2019 and 2023 investigations. THEY LIED as you can see in the video.
The Israeli Army has reportedly stolen hundreds of donkeys from the besieged Gaza Strip, smuggled them to Israel, and then re-exported them to France; to prevent their use in reconstruction.
According to the report, Israel soldiers have looted the donkeys from areas they have invaded within the Gaza Strip under the pretext of ‘rescuing them from sickness and neglect’.
So, donkeys allegedly rescued by Israel from ‘sickness and neglect’ – what about the neglected children and citizens of Gaza ? – a Palestine child dies of famine in Gaza – is this not ‘sickness and neglect ?’
Every day, thousands of working animals carrying heavy loads through busy streets. Their owners, many of whom are living in poverty themselves, rely on the use of these animals as their only source of income. One major problem is, that despite doing their best to help their own animals; they often use makeshift harnesses, of rope, wire and rubber; unaware of the damage that these can cause.
For the animals it is a downward spiral of silent suffering.
But SPANA, a London based charity is there to help by using a team of travelling veterinarians who travel around different locations giving much needed AND FREE advice, veterinary TREATMENT and very much welcomed NEW AND SUITABLE FREE HARNESSES to the animals owners. All of this is supported financially by SPANA supporters and donators.
SPANA is the Society for the Protection of ANimals Abroad. It also has an office in Australia. https://spana.org/contact-us/
We have personally been familiar with the excellent work of Welfarm, under the leadership of Ghislain, since they were affiliated with CIWF back in the 90’s – see ‘History’ below for more:
A year and a half after after turning away from the terrible intensive cage system; pig farmer Laurent Gugliemi has been amazed at the way his sows have now behaved after being given both their freedom and the ability to raise piglets in groups. Read the full article here:
Working donkeys and horses are the life blood of the local communities in Afghanistan and Kabul is by no means an exception.
Where old meets new in the city; many families will have access to motor transportation (so much so that Kabul was recently compared to Delhi as the most polluted city on earth) whilst many more, particularly those who inhabit the surrounding mountains, do not.
The working donkey or horse is vital to carry supplies (water, food and building materials) to the steep hillside communities; which make up most of Kabul’s surrounding urban areas nestled precariously on the side of the unforgiving mountain terrain.
The brick kilns of Kabul are literally ‘hell-holes’ for working animals as they are more often than not, over-worked and completely neglected. The poor animals are worked to death.
With little to no education, their owners have limited knowledge on the fundamental needs of their working animals which would lead to improving working conditions and improve their overall welfare.
Nowzad promotes healthy Afghan donkey ownership through an effective campaign targeting donkey and horse owners and muleteers (especially at the brick kilns of Kabul) explaining and teaching the importance of basic health checks for their animals along with feeding requirements and required vaccinations.
We employ a farrier to relieve animals of painful and uncomfortable hooves, a small gesture that makes a big difference to the working animals quality of life and where required hospitalise any donkey or horse as needed to allow them to recover from injury and illness. Importantly too, we employ a harness maker so that we can replace ill-fitting and injury causing harnesses.
We just cannot post some of the injuries we are sadly seeing. They are just too graphic. It breaks our heart but also makes us more determined with you by our side to be the difference for these working animals who have no choice but to be there.
All donkeys that we treat are recorded so that we can follow their progress. Our veterinarians are experienced in tending to any donkey or horse that is sick or injured and we often offer ‘roadside assistance’ or outpatient treatment to animals in distress.
In November 2023, Nowzad was thrilled to join the global Working Animal Alliance working group, working with other NGOs such as World Horse Welfare, academics, the private sector and international bodies across the sector to create a stronger voice for working animals, and recognise the role donkeys and horses have in achieving the global sustainable development goals.
In 2017 Nowzad opened the FIRST EVER donkey/horse sanctuary in Afghanistan, a refuge for former working donkeys and horses who have been discarded like rubbish onto the streets when they are no longer able to carry the heavy loads demanded of them by their owners.
Be the difference today!
Please help us to continue making a difference for the working animals of Afghanistan by clicking here. You can watch Pen take on the ‘Walk a mile in a donkey’s shoes’ challenge here where he explains our work direct from the streets of Kabul.
We cannot carry the loads for them but we are going to do what we can to make their lives somewhat easier. Be the difference today please!
Despite these hardworking animals being so essential to survival, they’re often the last to receive the little water that’s available, writes actor Jim Broadbent
In the 1960s, my father, who was a sculptor, joined the group Free Painters and Sculptors where he met a brilliant woman, Nina Hosali, who co-founded animal charity Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA) with her mother Kate in 1923.
Together, Nina and Kate would travel across North Africa to understand the difficulties facing local communities and their working animals. My father was very impressed by Nina and they became great friends, leading to my own support of the charity since the early nineties.
At that time, it was very unusual for two women to travel independently across North Africa and to be actively working with communities. It’s hard to imagine now how difficult it must have been and how brave they were. I can’t imagine the struggles they must have gone through venturing out into the desert to help working animals.
My wife Anastasia and I took a trip in 2006 to see the extraordinary work being done in Morocco by SPANA, and I felt privileged, in some small way, to follow in their footsteps some 80 years later. I remember visiting one of the centres the charity continues to run, where I saw donkeys being treated and animal owners receiving advice on animal welfare. We also travelled to more remote areas, where hardworking animals were helped by mobile vet clinics. We learned how working animals are vital to families and communities, particularly in low-income countries and the importance of their welfare.
Growing up in rural Lincolnshire, I was surrounded by friends with farms. They were mostly dairy farms, with fairly large herds of milking cattle. These animals were all appreciated and well looked after in a part of the world where we’re lucky enough to have largely clement weather and where animals benefit from access to clean water, nutritious diets and proper medical care. This standard of care was for me the norm.
The circumstances facing the people and animals we met in Morocco were very different. Working animals like donkeys, mules, horses and oxen are used much more widely, for tasks such as ploughing fields, transporting goods to market and collecting water – they are a real lifeline for their communities.
Obviously, it’s much hotter in Morocco, particularly in the summer months. We saw animals pulling heavy loads in extreme heat with little rest, which can lead to health issues such as dehydration, heatstroke and fatigue. At that time, animal owners had limited access to proper harnesses and, as a result, we saw animals suffering from wounds caused by ill-fitting and makeshift equipment.
Globally, the climate crisis is now making life harder for working animals and their owners. Many countries at the sharp end of the climate crisis are already experiencing more frequent droughts and water scarcity. The situation is worse for the most vulnerable, who are less likely to have access to clean running water because of inadequate water infrastructure.
The climate crisis is affecting every corner of the globe, with Morocco among the most hard-hit regions. There, they’ve experienced six consecutive years of drought due to record temperatures caused by climate change. This has led to increased evaporation and threats to water supplies.
And it’s working animals who many communities around the world desperately rely on at times of water crisis. They play a vital yet often overlooked role helping people carry huge amounts of clean water over long distances, often in the most challenging conditions.
It’s animals that help communities endure these desperate circumstances. But, despite being so essential to survival, they’re often the last to receive the little water that’s available.
That’s why, this International Working Animal Day, SPANA is urging governments around the world to prioritise inclusive water services that meet the needs of working animals and the people who depend on them, to ensure fair and reliable access for all. Having witnessed how central these animals are to the communities they support, and the suffering they endure, I’m proud to wholeheartedly add my voice to this call.
World Animals Voice 