More than 15 per cent of the country’s donkeys have been slaughtered since the government licensed four abattoirs to start operations.

Though this directive has since been rescinded, the Meru County Donkey Welfare Agribusiness is warning that the animals will be wiped out by next year if the ban is lifted.

This came as High Court Judge Richard Mwongo allowed the donkey farmers, to be enjoined in a case where a Naivasha based slaughterhouse has gone to court to oppose the government directive to ban slaughtering of the animals.

In February 2021, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya directed the management of four slaughterhouses to stop operations, following concern that the number of the animals were on a decline countrywide.

Donkey theft

The affected slaughterhouses were Star Brilliant (Naivasha), Goldox Kenya (Mogotio), Silzha (Turkana) and Fuhai (Machakos).

In an affidavit, the welfare chairman Robert Maitethya, said in a period of two years, the four abattoirs had slaughtered 15 per cent of the country’s donkeys.

Maitethya who is also the national chairman of Association of Donkey Owners, noted that between 2016 and 2018, close to 302,000 donkeys were slaughtered by the four institutions.

He added that cases of donkey theft across the country had increased since slaughtering of the animals started, a move that had adversely affected the owners.

“If these companies continue to slaughter the donkeys at the current rates, it is projected that all donkeys will be slaughtered by 2022,” he said.

He said this would impact negatively on hundreds of families that relied on the donkeys in ferrying goods.