GREEK ANIMAL WELFARE FUND EQUINE PROJECT CRETE 2008

REPORT EQUINE PROJECT VISIT

CRETE, 12-14 DECEMBER 2008

 

 

From Friday the 12th to Sunday the 14th of December, Elisa Geskou and Aris Vlachakis visited several areas of Crete to treat working equines that needed their help. Aris is a farrier from Crete who has taken part in Crete and Lesvos GAWF seminar and our farriers have agreed that he is a competent farrier, able to help the project when needed.

On Friday and Saturday we worked in the east area of the island (Males, Kalamafka, Anatoli, Prina, Kato Horio and Malia) and on Sunday in the west and central area (Armeni, Platanies, Plakias and Agia Marina). In both our last visits on Saturday and Sunday, we had to work under the houselights (!) as it was too dark, we arrived back home to Heraklio almost midnight! So on Monday the 15th we treated some more rescued donkeys in the area of Heraklio and on Tuesday morning we went to check back on a donkey with a foot abscess.

 

During the visit, we treated 56 animals; 49 donkeys, 6 horses and 1 mule. 47 of them received dentistry treatment and 40 farriery treatment. No accident injuries were found and no wounds from tack – apart from one case of a donkey’s sore back whose saddle needed repair.

 

As far as dentistry is concerned, we found 7 animals with upper premolar hooks (2 of which were big) and 11 animals with ramps (1 of these had a spiky 4:11 tooth, almost reaching the palate and causing serious problem to the donkey, possibly threatening her life. The nostril of the same side had continuous discharge and the donkey had lost condition. The spiky edge was cut and rasped and antibiotics were given to the donkey). 5 animals had misplaced teeth outside and 1 inside. Lots of old animals were found with wavy mouths, missing teeth and several with slightly loose teeth, but not ready to be extracted. An owner complained about her donkey not eating well, the mouth was opened and a very sharp edge on the 2:11 was found, having caused an ulcer on the cheek; this possibly causing pain and preventing the donkey from eating well. While visiting a horse trekking place to treat the donkeys that had been saved by the owner, we came across a horse whose owner complained that it rears and kicks on the turns while ridden. His teeth were rasped (they had never been rasped in the past and they were extremely sharp) and wait to hear if this has made a change in his behaviour while ridden.

 

Regarding farriery, 40 animals had their feet trimmed. 4 of them were found with long and distorted feet. 3 donkeys had foot abscesses and 1 pony was lame due to severe sepsis of the frog. 1 mule had onychomycosis in two of his feet. We were very glad to treat a very serious case of a donkey with both hind feet very upright (ballerina) but one of them so deformed that the donkey was walking at the front wall over the toe and the sole was in the air, while having flexed back his osteoarthritic pastern joint. Aris managed to bring the foot in the right position (the sole on the ground) by trimming it slowly and anti-inflammatories-painkillers were given to the owner, with the advice to walk the donkey little but often to help the joint get used again to its normal position.

 

5 equines were wormed, either because of not being in a good body condition or being rubbing their tail area (possibly worm infection). 

 

A serious case of foundered feet was found. The owner had been trimming the front soles of the donkey too much causing attacks of laminitis, the donkey also had ataxia in the hind feet due to neurological problems, this combination making the donkey refusing to walk. Advice on soft ground, painkillers, biotin, no sole trimming etc was given; the donkey feels already better and we would like to hear about a better outcome in a few weeks’-months’ time.

2 old donkeys had arthritic and swollen carpus joints and 1 horse had tendonitis.

A very nervous old mule was found with severe ataxia, also falling on the ground according to the owner’s sayings and advice was given to the owner not to ride the animal anymore...

Another interesting case was an owner who knew we would visit his village but didn’t want us to treat his 2 donkeys because he didn’t trust us as he said (this owner had been shot in the face years ago as we were told and his appalling look had probably made him not trust people and behave strangely). We found him by chance while he was walking his 2 donkeys in the village and asked him if he wanted us to treat his lame donkey and his other one that was bleeding from the mouth! He was surprised that we noticed both of his problems and after a lot of discussion (!) convinced him to let us treat his donkeys. The lame donkey had a sprain in the fetlock and treatment was given for it, but the donkey with the mouth bleeding had a more serious problem. As the owner said, he had bought the donkey from someone else who was previously using a mouth bit with a very sharp part on it. He had removed it and saw an improvement, but as soon as he put a simple bit in, it started bleeding again. I opened the mouth and noticed a big part of the soft tissue covering the lower jaw was missing, while being able to see part of the bone. ¾ of the hole had been closed by granulation tissue, but there was still a small part not covered and bleeding. The mouth was cleaned with antiseptic, a tetanus antiserum and antibiotics were given and advice not to use a bit for at least 6 months to help it heal completely. The owner was happy with the treatments and expressed his gratitude.  

 

We would like to thank Suzanne Barbour and Alistair from Anatoli who did the organizing of our visit in east Crete, as well as Jayne Butler from Rethymno who did the same in the other side of the island. Also many thanks to Suzanne and Alistair for offering us accommodation in their place for one night and to the two horse owners who subscribed in GAWF. They all thought the visit was worth doing and they hope it will be repeated next year to help more animals.