<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Donkey welfare is becoming a subject of much interest; for decades, people around the world have voiced rising worry about it. There are no studies on donkey welfare in Nigeria. This study aimed to assess the welfare state of donkeys in Amaru, Zaria Ancient City, Kaduna State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was done to purposefully select 38 pack donkeys for welfare assessment based on the first level of the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) for donkeys, which covered behaviour, health, feeding, and environment and housing. Information regarding age and sex was collected. The analysed data were reported in terms of frequencies and percentages. The prevalence of donkeys with no social contact, avoidance behaviour, and walking downside was 2.6 %, 5.36 %, and 40.56 %, respectively. The most common health problems are integumentary alterations, which include an unhealthy hair coat (86.8 %), skin lesions (86.6 %), alopecia (60.5 %), and deep wounds (47.4 %). Only 5.3 % of the donkeys were lame. Around 42 % had a body condition score of 2 (moderate), while the remaining 57.9 % had a body condition score of 3 (ideal). The donkeys were poorly kept and housed, as evidenced by the high prevalence of unsatisfactory shelter dimensions (100 %), dirty bedding (89.5 %), and insufficient bedding (89.5 %). The current study found that welfare issues are serious challenges for donkeys in Amaru, Zaria Ancient City, Kaduna State, Nigeria. As a consequence of the current findings, it is recommended that donkey welfare, policies and legislative frameworks that support animal welfare and inspect animal facilities in Nigeria should to be reviewed and enforced.</p>
</abstract>

Donkey welfare is becoming a subject of much interest; for decades, people around the world have voiced rising worry about it. There are no studies on donkey welfare in Nigeria. This study aimed to assess the welfare state of donkeys in Amaru, Zaria Ancient City, Kaduna State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was done to purposefully select 38 pack donkeys for welfare assessment based on the first level of the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) for donkeys, which covered behaviour, health, feeding, and environment and housing. Information regarding age and sex was collected. The analysed data were reported in terms of frequencies and percentages. The prevalence of donkeys with no social contact, avoidance behaviour, and walking downside was 2.6 %, 5.36 %, and 40.56 %, respectively. The most common health problems are integumentary alterations, which include an unhealthy hair coat (86.8 %), skin lesions (86.6 %), alopecia (60.5 %), and deep wounds (47.4 %). Only 5.3 % of the donkeys were lame. Around 42 % had a body condition score of 2 (moderate), while the remaining 57.9 % had a body condition score of 3 (ideal). The donkeys were poorly kept and housed, as evidenced by the high prevalence of unsatisfactory shelter dimensions (100 %), dirty bedding (89.5 %), and insufficient bedding (89.5 %). The current study found that welfare issues are serious challenges for donkeys in Amaru, Zaria Ancient City, Kaduna State, Nigeria. As a consequence of the current findings, it is recommended that donkey welfare, policies and legislative frameworks that support animal welfare and inspect animal facilities in Nigeria should to be reviewed and enforced.

Welfare Assessment of Pack Donkeys in Amaru, Zaria Ancient City, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Folia Veterinaria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Donkey welfare is becoming a subject of much interest; for decades, people around the world have voiced rising worry about it. There are no studies on donkey...

Welfare Assessment of Pack Donkeys in Amaru, Zaria Ancient City, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Published Online: Jun 19, 2023

Page range: 42 - 50

Received: Mar 10, 2023

Accepted: May 15, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2023-0016

Keywords
pack donkey, skin lesions, welfare assessment

© 2023 Philip W. Mshelia et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Welfare Assessment of Pack Donkeys in Amaru, Zaria Ancient City, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Published Online: Jun 19, 2023

Page range: 42 - 50

Received: Mar 10, 2023

Accepted: May 15, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2023-0016

Keywordspack donkey, skin lesions, welfare assessment

© 2023 Philip W. Mshelia et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
pack donkey, skin lesions, welfare assessment