Donkey mistreatment decrease as owners shun drug abuse

THE STANDARD CENTRAL A programme aimed at educating donkey owners on proper animal care has started bearing fruit. For many years, a badly wounded donkey hauling an overloaded cart full of bags of rice was a common feature in the paddy fields of Mwea in Kirinyaga County. Such scenes are becoming rare as donkey owners have adopted new ways of treating their animals following civic education. The programme also looked into eradicating alcohol and substance abuse in the region.  “Bhang and alcohol abuse is quite common among donkey riders and there are so many other bad vices associated with them and these are the things the programme has addressed,” said Cyrus Gitonga, the Kirinyaga Donkey Owners Association chairperson.