By John Harvey (Senior Veterinary Advisor)
01 Feb 2010
Just after leaving the Brooke clinic in Cairo towards the airport, the car passed a donkey pulling a cart loaded with gas cylinders up a hill. It was probably only a couple of seconds that I glimpsed the scene for, if that, but the moment was caught in my mind like a photo was taken.
The little donkey was straining as hard as it could to pull the cart up the hill: every muscle fibre straining; his (although it could have been her) legs so braced that it looked as if they might snap any moment; a look of determination in his eye; his small hooves straining to hold enough grip on the road. It seemed almost impossible that such a small donkey could ever pull a roughly made cart with 30 or more gas cylinders, let alone up a hill. In the glimpsed moment, one of the two young children who were driving the cart jumped off and starting using a plank of wood to drive the donkey on. It seemed obvious that the donkey could try no harder.
In the moment, what did I feel? Compassion, even heartfelt pain for the small donkey: frustration, even maybe anger towards the children: helplessness, this was only moments from the Brooke clinic.
It took a couple of moments more, and then I began to rationalise the picture and put it into context.
From veterinary perspective, in my glimpse (which is obviously far from an assessment), there were no major problems: no obvious open wounds; the donkey wasn’t thin; the eyes that expressed emotion were clear and bright. So, realistically a clinic, drugs, vets and so on these weren’t the best route to help this donkey.
Was it just that the children were cruel? Clearly their actions were causing the donkey distress (and me as an onlooker): but it’s not that simple. Why were they not at school? Why were they dressed in shabby clothes? Why were they working when they can’t have been more than 10 years old? Where are their parents? Why do they look less well fed than the donkey? The complicated decisions and balances of needing to survive and try and earn a living by a family were forgotten in my first glance. But delicately engaging with this situation with all its untidy nuances is essential to making a difference to the life of this and millions of other working equines.
I know what I see, but what am I really looking at?
A quick glance drew out my emotion and frustrations. Thinking and looking at the situation behind the momentary picture started to unpick where solutions might be found. Hard as it is, the Brooke always strives to do this thinking.
Your comments
Jackie Short This Blog raises some crucial issues. It is right to care about the plight of the poor children as well as the animal, of course, but their plight won't be improved by over-straining and injuring the donkey. They need to understand that, like them, the donkey needs humane treatment to be able to continue to work for their benefit.
Patricia North I cried when I read this article, as all animals, they suffer in silence at the cruelty of humans, only education and junderstanding can make a difference.
Jenty It is this sort of thinking that makes the Brooke's work so admirable and effective, as is the educational work done with young children.
Patricia Brook I recently visited Egypt and was very upset at the sight of horses that pull carriages with tourists in standing in the sun for hours on end waiting for someone to hire the carriage. They were underfed and their heads were down and they just looked so pitiful. The temperature was about 35 degrees. Their owners were all sitting in a cafe in the shade. Our tour operator said that they did not use these carriages anymore as the carriages were in poor condition as were the horses and that the locals use the state of these poor animals to elicit even more money out of the tourists. I do realise that these people are poor and do need to earn a living any way they can, but it cannot be right to subject these poor horses to such treatment.
Charlotte Enderby I think that the Brookes community education work is a perfect approach to these issues. A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to visit a school where the Brooke were engaging with pupils. The simple methods of teaching and guidance through fun and completions seemed to have such a beneficial effect on the children. They work in such harsh conditions and from such a young age carrying out tasks that many of us wouldn’t be capable of.
It is so good that the Brooke approach is so diverse addressing problems through many different channels.
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