Help treat working animals suffering from parasites

Horse suffering from mange, hair lossparasites parasites, ticks, mange, skin, hair loss due to parasites

Unimaginable torment. Itching to death. Will you help working animals like Hani?

Working animals can easily pick up tiny mites, ticks and worms from pastures and stables, where parasites lay eggs. Indeed, it’s common for donkeys and horses to have them. And at low levels, some parasites can be relatively harmless. But, if they aren’t managed, or treated, certain parasites can cause all kinds of problems for working animals, from malnutrition to abandonment to death.

An injection or special paste is all that is needed to stop the pain caused by parasites.

A kind gift from you today can help stop thousands of infected animals going untreated.

Will you please donate so we can urgently treat more working animals suffering needlessly from parasites, like lice and mites?

A malnourished and underweight working donkey, whose symptoms were caused by internal parasites

Internal parasites were eating away at Yafet, draining him of nutrients and energy.

Yafet’s story

Yafet, whose name means ‘handsome’, works in the town of Shashemene, Ethiopia, with his owner Hiko. The nine-year-old donkey pulls a heavy cart of goods seven days a week, and needs every ounce of strength he has to get through it.

But over time, Yafet’s strength depleted. He grew thinner and weaker, going off his food. Hiko noticed that pulling the heavy cart was becoming unbearable for his donkey.

Internal parasites were eating away at Yafet. They had moved into his intestines, and caused so much inflammation that Yafet was beginning to suffer from colic. Unable to absorb food and starved of vital nutrients, he grew weaker and weaker.

It was clear that Yafet needed urgent treatment. The damage caused by parasites could eventually kill the poor donkey.

Luckily, Hiko knew that our expert vets regularly visit Shashemene in a mobile clinic and he brought Yafet to see them.

After diagnosing Yafet with internal parasites, our vets injected him with an antiparasitic medication called Ivermectin. Yafet was also given some nutritious feed and multivitamins to build up his strength.

Following his treatment, Yafet needed two weeks of crucial rest to recover at home. SPANA vets advised Hiko to rotate the animals he kept in his paddock and to regularly clean it to reduce the parasites in the environment.

Hiko was so grateful for the treatment his donkey received.

‘Thank you SPANA for helping my donkey and coming to my village,’ Hiko said. ‘I’m supporting my family with the income I’m getting from my three donkeys. You are saving my donkey and my family, too.’