A horse is examined by a SPANA mobile clinic vet.

Vulnerable working animals living in the world’s most remote areas are suffering. Will you help reach them?

In remote areas where there is no access to animal welfare care and support, SPANA’s mobile clinics are vital. They allow us to reach sick and injured animals in the heart of isolated communities, where working animals are relied on for survival.

We currently run more than 40 mobile clinics across the countries where we work, each clocking up hundreds of miles a day to reach thousands of animals who would otherwise be forgotten.

Mobile clinics are essential to our ongoing work to transform the welfare of working animals worldwide, but none of this would be possible without your support.

Your donation could help:

  • Fund more mobile clinics and keep existing ones on the road
  • Stock our mobile clinics with lifesaving medicines
  • Treat sick and injured animals in hard-to-reach places
  • Train animal owners on what good welfare looks like
  • Run community training sessions
  • Train veterinary students so they can learn to treat working animals

The vulnerable working animals of the world need you. Will you please donate to our mobile clinics appeal today? Thank you.

Mary the donkey receives treatment from a SPANA vet, who reached her in rural southern Zimbabwe via a mobile clinic.
Miles from the nearest vet, a small wound on Mary’s hoof risked becoming life-threatening.

Mary’s story

Mary the donkey might have died if our mobile vet team hadn’t reached her.

Living in a rural Zimbabwe, where water is scarce, Mary spends her days hauling heavy carts of water from a well back to her owner Manius’ home.

Recently, Mary was pulling her cart in unforgiving heat when she punctured her hoof on a sharp piece of stone. The pain was like a knife stabbing into her foot.

Manius soon noticed that Mary was struggling to put weight on her hoof. The wound was deep and her foot had developed a nasty abscess. Bacteria began to thrive inside it. She was in excruciating pain and risked developing tetanus. This can lead to starvation, paralysis and a slow, suffocating death.

Fortunately for Mary, SPANA was able to reach her. After a full day on the road, our mobile clinic team arrived in Mary’s remote village of Beitbridge.

After examining her badly infected hoof, the vet team sedated Mary and drained the abscess. They bandaged her hoof and gave Mary pain relief and antibiotics to fight the infection, and reduce the risk of her developing deadly tetanus. The vets also showed Manius how to clean and dress Mary’s wound so he could continue her treatment at home. They advised him to rest Mary for three months until she made a full recovery.

Mary’s story shows just how quickly a relatively minor injury can seriously escalate. Without access to SPANA’s mobile clinic, Mary’s infected injury would have worsened and could have been fatal.

Will you please donate to help other vulnerable working animals like Mary, who are suffering in the world’s most remote areas? Thank you so much.

We travel all over Zimbabwe to treat injured and sick working animals in the most isolated and disadvantaged regions. Mary’s village is the furthest south we travel. It’s so remote that for the final 60 miles we must travel down a deep, pothole-scarred dirt track. Without our mobile clinic, working animals like Mary would receive no veterinary care, simply because of where they live.
– Dr Tawanda Sakala, SPANA vet in Zimbabwe
A working donkey sitting on the grass receives treatment from a SPANA vet, who came to her aid via a mobile clinic.

Thank you

Your generous donations will be used for projects such as those featured in this appeal and where they are required the most to help animals in need. We would be so grateful for whatever you can give to this vital mobile clinics appeal. Thank you.

To speak to our friendly supporter care team please visit our contact us page and get in touch.