Diseases are being spread around the world by the trade in donkey skins, according to a new report from The Donkey Sanctuary. More than 4.8 million donkeys are traded and slaughtered for their skins each year.
The report, Biosecurity Risks and Implications for Human & Animal Health on a Global Scale, details tests by the International Livestock Research Institute which found multiple skins contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus and African horse sickness (AHS).
In the case of S.aureus contaminated skins, 44 of 108 tested were found to be carrying the drug-resistant MRSA variant, and three of the positive samples were carrying the PVL-toxin – known to cause invasive necrotising diseases in humans.
The demand for donkey skins is driven by the production of ejiao, a traditional Chinese remedy believed by some to have medicinal properties. The donkey skin trade currently operates without adequate veterinary and biosecurity protocols. The nature of much of the trade also means that shipments are often impossible to track.
The majority of the trade relies on illegal backyard slaughtering, which increases the risk of donkey skins being contaminated by disturbed soil or other infectious agents. Where multiple species are slaughtered at the same location there is a further risk of cross-contamination.
All of the contaminated skin samples identified by The Donkey Sanctuary originated in a licensed slaughterhouse in Kenya.
Marianne Steele, Chief Executive of The Donkey Sanctuary said: “The global trade in donkey skins is cruel and inhumane, unregulated and unnecessary, which results in suffering for donkeys and donkey-dependent communities on a devastating scale. While many may choose to turn away from the direct impacts on animals and people, I would implore consumers, governments and the wider public to take notice of the risks to animal and human health.
“The global trade in donkey skins should be halted immediately. We now have evidence it is neither humane, sustainable nor safe and allowing it to continue, given the risks we have revealed, is unanswerable.
“If nothing else, the recent lessons of Covid-19, and the current outbreak of avian flu, should make us sit up and take notice of the emerging threats that zoonotic diseases pose.”
The findings of the report will be presented at the African Union InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources Pan-African Donkey Conference in Dar es Salaam Tanzania, taking place 1–2 December 2022.
The Donkey Sanctuary is calling on the governments of China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand to immediately stop the import of donkey skins, and on the national governments of exporting countries to take immediate steps to stop the trade in donkey skins.
Dr Faith Burden, Executive Director of Equine Operations at The Donkey Sanctuary, said: “The findings throughout the report are shocking, although not altogether unsurprising – the disease risks for animals and humans are obvious, with poor hygiene at all stages of the trade. The lack of traceability and basic biosecurity should alarm anyone involved in the trade and puts people and animals in general at significant risk.
“The skins tested were from one slaughterhouse sourced on one day – I am sure that skins from other sources and in other countries and continents, if tested, could indicate the presence of other important pathogens such as glanders, equine influenza and African swine fever.”
To find out more, read the full report: https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/sites/uk/files/2022-11/report-2-the-global-trade-in-donkey-skins-a-ticking-time-bomb-2022.pdf
