A pilot study of working equid welfare in Haiti

Brizgys, Lauren Ann; Brady, Colleen

doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2017.03.141

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Working equids are used for a variety of purposes, providing draught and carrying power for domestic and agricultural activities, as well as outputs such as manure and sometimes milk, meat, and hides [ 4 , 5 ]. These animals live their lives mainly working in harsh climatic conditions, without any rest or water supply [ 6 , 7 ] as they represent an essential source of income for their owners, who often live in poverty [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Notwithstanding their fundamental role within developing areas and their substantial socioeconomic contribution to their communities, published scientific evidence on their health and welfare conditions remains scant [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Retrospective Study on the Status of Working Equids Admitted to an Equine Clinic in Cairo: Disease Prevalence and Associations between Physical Parameters and Outcome

Benedetti,

Freccero,

Barton

et al. 2024

Animals

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Working equids are often used to exhaustion, living and dying in conditions below minimal welfare standards. Due to their poor welfare status, euthanasia should be considered in certain conditions. The study aimed to describe the population and the disease frequency of the working equids admitted at an equine clinic in Cairo (i.e., Egypt Equine Aid (EEA)) from 2019 to 2022 and identify possible associations between physical parameters at admission and the outcome. Records of 1360 equids admitted at EEA were reviewed. The majority of the admitted equids were horses (65.6%), followed by donkeys (33%), in particular stallions (68.7%), from 1 to 15 years old (74.8%). Hospitalisation was mainly due to wounds (28.9%), orthopaedic problems (27.4%), colic (8.5%), or infectious diseases (7.4%). The majority of the equids were discharged, but 5.1% died on their own, without human intervention, and 23% were euthanised. Text mining revealed the anamnesis’s most frequent words were ‘accident’, ‘lameness’, and ‘wound’. In addition, owners sometimes reported using inappropriate remedies (e.g., firing) before hospitalisation. Multivariable ordinal regression analysis performed between physical parameters and the outcome (ordered based on severity: discharged, euthanasia, and dead) revealed that sex (male vs. female: OR = 1.33; p < 0.05), colour of the mucous membrane (pathological vs. physiological: OR = 1.72; p < 0.01), and capillary refill time (pathological vs. physiological: OR = 1.42; p = 0.02) increased the likelihood of a non-survival outcome. In conclusion, early euthanasia should be considered for these equids, to minimise prolonged suffering. Moreover, owners’ education is recommended to guarantee minimal welfare standards to the working equids.

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