Accra, Feb 11, GNA – An international animal charity organisation, Brooke, has raised concerns over feverish attempts to reopen a Chinese slaughterhouse, Blue Coast Ghana, which was shut down in 2017 for the mass slaughter of donkeys in Walewale.

The company, established in 2012 in the North East regional capital, Walewale, was involved in the slaughtering of donkeys without approval from the veterinary services division, prompting authorities to close down the abattoir.

Veterinary officials and animal rights organisations, meeting in Accra to develop an advocacy road map, have condemned the move to reopen the abattoir as it had triggered a sharp decline in Ghana’s donkey population in recent years, driven by the high demand for donkey hide and meat by the Chinese.

Most of the donkeys are transported from Burkina Faso, even though the country has also banned the export of live donkeys, Mr Emmanuel Boure Sarr, Brooke West Africa Regional Director, said.

He noted the Burkina Faso-Ghana corridor had become a huge epicentre of donkey hide trade due to lack of enforcement of the law.

Mr Sarr, who was speaking at a workshop to develop a road map to halt donkey trade in Ghana and West Africa, shared his experience on travelling to Upper East Region.

There, he said preparations were going on feverishly in the compound of the Walewale abattoir to resume business operations.

“Our surprise was so huge when we noticed that the Chinese abattoir is re-opening for business,” he added. “This slaughterhouse is at the heart of a system that fuels the illegal donkey trade. Even though there were no donkeys during our visit, those in charge were preparing for the resumption of operations.”

In Bolgatanga, he said many slaughter points were carrying out mass slaughter of donkeys in disregard of the animals’ welfare or hygiene and environment.

“With the support of our partners here we were able to identify at least 25 slaughter points in the municipality of Bolgatanga and surroundings,” he added.

He further raised ethical issues about donkeys being fraudulently presented as bush meat to the unsuspecting public, especially in southern Ghana, who consume without knowing they were eating donkeys.

“One of the issues related to this trade is that donkey is consumed by many people, but it’s mainly presented as bush meat.”

He described it as “unsustainable, unethical, harmful for food security and non-profitable” for Africa, as most rural communities depended on donkeys for their livelihoods.

“For most vulnerable communities, especially women, donkeys are a solution to poverty that can make the difference between destitution and survival,” Mr Mactar Seck, Programmes manager of Brooke added.

He said monetary income generated by the use of donkeys for transporting people and goods in Senegal and Burkina Faso was higher than the minimum wage of those countries, of which Ghana is no exception.

“Donkeys are also used on a daily basis for water collection, transporting families to medical centres and transporting children to school,” he added. “Without donkeys, households would pay so much for these services.”

However, hundreds of thousands of donkeys are slaughtered for their skins and exported annually, causing donkey numbers to decimate.

Mr Seck also said the donkeys found in northern Ghana were mostly from Burkina Faso, with rare exceptions, stating: “Ghana’s donkeys are on the verge of extinction and the process seems inevitable.”

Dr Ayamdoh Nsor, Northern Regional Vet Officer, highlighted the danger of the situation, saying China’s donkey population has reduced by 76 per cent over the past three decades, thereby redirecting their attention towards Africa.

Ghana’s donkey population was pegged at about 14,500 per the last donkey census in 2015, however, Mr Nsor said the number has declined sharply due to the ongoing mass slaughter.

He also said the illegal trade was fuelled by growing demand from China, as skins are boiled to produce ‘Jiao’, gelatine used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Ejiao market demand is projected as 4.8 million donkey skins annually, that is 10 per cent of the world donkey population project at 50 million.

Ghana banned the donkey trade in 2016 after a resolution was adopted by ECOWAS but veterinary services officials worry about the lack of legal mandate to arrest or prosecute offenders.

But Brooke West African has called for a global ban on the trade of donkey skins and a crackdown on cross-border smuggling of donkeys for their skins.

GNA

Accra, Feb 11, GNA – An international animal charity organisation, Brooke, has raised concerns over feverish attempts to reopen a Chinese slaughterhouse, Blue Coast Ghana, which was shut down in 2017 for the mass slaughter of donkeys in Walewale.

The company, established in 2012 in the North East regional capital, Walewale, was involved in the slaughtering of donkeys without approval from the veterinary services division, prompting authorities to close down the abattoir.

Veterinary officials and animal rights organisations, meeting in Accra to develop an advocacy road map, have condemned the move to reopen the abattoir as it had triggered a sharp decline in Ghana’s donkey population in recent years, driven by the high demand for donkey hide and meat by the Chinese.

Most of the donkeys are transported from Burkina Faso, even though the country has also banned the export of live donkeys, Mr Emmanuel Boure Sarr, Brooke West Africa Regional Director, said.

He noted the Burkina Faso-Ghana corridor had become a huge epicentre of donkey hide trade due to lack of enforcement of the law.

Mr Sarr, who was speaking at a workshop to develop a road map to halt donkey trade in Ghana and West Africa, shared his experience on travelling to Upper East Region.

There, he said preparations were going on feverishly in the compound of the Walewale abattoir to resume business operations.

“Our surprise was so huge when we noticed that the Chinese abattoir is re-opening for business,” he added. “This slaughterhouse is at the heart of a system that fuels the illegal donkey trade. Even though there were no donkeys during our visit, those in charge were preparing for the resumption of operations.”

In Bolgatanga, he said many slaughter points were carrying out mass slaughter of donkeys in disregard of the animals’ welfare or hygiene and environment.

“With the support of our partners here we were able to identify at least 25 slaughter points in the municipality of Bolgatanga and surroundings,” he added.

He further raised ethical issues about donkeys being fraudulently presented as bush meat to the unsuspecting public, especially in southern Ghana, who consume without knowing they were eating donkeys.

“One of the issues related to this trade is that donkey is consumed by many people, but it’s mainly presented as bush meat.”

He described it as “unsustainable, unethical, harmful for food security and non-profitable” for Africa, as most rural communities depended on donkeys for their livelihoods.

“For most vulnerable communities, especially women, donkeys are a solution to poverty that can make the difference between destitution and survival,” Mr Mactar Seck, Programmes manager of Brooke added.

He said monetary income generated by the use of donkeys for transporting people and goods in Senegal and Burkina Faso was higher than the minimum wage of those countries, of which Ghana is no exception.

“Donkeys are also used on a daily basis for water collection, transporting families to medical centres and transporting children to school,” he added. “Without donkeys, households would pay so much for these services.”

However, hundreds of thousands of donkeys are slaughtered for their skins and exported annually, causing donkey numbers to decimate.

Mr Seck also said the donkeys found in northern Ghana were mostly from Burkina Faso, with rare exceptions, stating: “Ghana’s donkeys are on the verge of extinction and the process seems inevitable.”

Dr Ayamdoh Nsor, Northern Regional Vet Officer, highlighted the danger of the situation, saying China’s donkey population has reduced by 76 per cent over the past three decades, thereby redirecting their attention towards Africa.

Ghana’s donkey population was pegged at about 14,500 per the last donkey census in 2015, however, Mr Nsor said the number has declined sharply due to the ongoing mass slaughter.

He also said the illegal trade was fuelled by growing demand from China, as skins are boiled to produce ‘Jiao’, gelatine used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Ejiao market demand is projected as 4.8 million donkey skins annually, that is 10 per cent of the world donkey population project at 50 million.

Ghana banned the donkey trade in 2016 after a resolution was adopted by ECOWAS but veterinary services officials worry about the lack of legal mandate to arrest or prosecute offenders.

But Brooke West African has called for a global ban on the trade of donkey skins and a crackdown on cross-border smuggling of donkeys for their skins.

GNA