Donkey owners have welcomed last week’s ban on the slaughter of the beasts of burden, but want the move included in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report to safeguard the animals’ future.
Led by Meru Donkey Welfare Association chairman, Mr Robert Mutethia, they said the ban by the Ministry of Agriculture would help improve the livelihoods of donkey owners in rural areas.
Last week, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya banned commercial slaughter of donkeys in a move to curb theft.
Mr Mutethia said the country has about 1.8 million donkeys and over 1,000 are slaughtered weekly.
“Many donkeys were being stolen and killed haphazardly. We are here to thank President Uhuru Kenyatta and CS Peter Munya for the directive. We now want it in the BBI so that it can be entrenched,” he said.
Ms Ann Karambu, a farmer from Naari, Meru said many women are now idle after they lost their donkeys and some young people are now being involved in crime.
“The theft of donkey had a lot of spiral effect, many people are now jobless could get into drugs and crime. The prices of the donkeys should also be increased so that they are out of reach for the slaughterhouses,” she said.
Ms Eunice Wambui, a farmer from Embu said the beast of burden was a depended upon in many households in the region.
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