Welfare Conditions of Donkeys in Europe: Initial Outcomes from On-Farm Assessment.
Authors: Dai Francesca, Dalla Costa Emanuela, Murray Leigh Margareth Anne, Canali Elisabetta, Minero Michela
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Welfare Assessment Protocol for European Donkeys Establishing reliable welfare assessment methods is essential for improving standards across the donkey industry, yet systematic on-farm evaluation tools have been lacking until recently. Researchers applied the newly validated AWIN welfare assessment protocol—comprising 22 animal-based indicators—to 278 donkeys across 20 facilities in Italy and the United Kingdom, training three independent assessors to ensure consistency and using digital data collection systems. Significant welfare concerns emerged: approximately one quarter of donkeys were moderately overweight, over 15% showed signs of hoof neglect including overgrowth or improper trimming despite generally adequate farriery standards, and nearly one in five displayed avoidance behaviour during human approach, suggesting handling or habituation issues. The protocol's applicability across different management systems and donkey types demonstrates its potential as a standardised tool for baseline monitoring and intervention planning. For equine professionals, these findings highlight that weight management, hoof care consistency, and early human socialisation warrant particular attention in donkey welfare programmes, whilst the availability of a validated assessment framework now enables meaningful comparison of welfare standards and progress across European operations.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Use the validated AWIN protocol to systematically assess donkey welfare on your farm; focus particularly on body condition scoring and hoof assessment as recurrent problem areas
- •Approximately 1 in 5 donkeys may show human avoidance, suggesting training protocols and handling practices need review to improve animal-human relationships
- •Hoof care quality is variable even when generally good—implement regular trimming schedules and inspection systems to prevent the 15% incidence of neglect-related issues
Key Findings
- •25% of assessed donkeys were moderately overweight across 20 EU farms
- •15.16% of donkeys showed signs of hoof neglect including overgrowth and incorrect trimming despite generally good hoof care standards
- •18.05% of donkeys demonstrated avoidance reactions to human approach in standardized testing
- •The AWIN protocol with 22 animal-based welfare indicators proved applicable across different management systems and donkey types