Acts of kindness: Volunteers rescue abandoned donkey in Islamabad

Group calls for awareness of animal rights and compassion for creatures

ISLAMABAD: Volunteers rescued and treated an abandoned stray donkey in the upscale Sector F-7 of the capital on Tuesday as calls were made for raising awareness on animal rights in the society.

Help Welfare Organisation (HWO) Animal Rescue — a group of volunteers working to help stray, abandoned and injured animals in the capital — said that they had received a call on Tuesday about the abandoned animal which appeared to be in poor health.

“It seems the donkey had been abandoned since it was no longer able to carry heavy loads due to its old age and poor health,” said Sunil Jamil, the founder of the volunteer animal rescue organisation.

Responding to the call, he said that they found the donkey lying by the roadside in Sector F-7 with most of his teeth lost and his right leg not functioning.



“This was a case of abandonment and animal cruelty,” he said.
The group treated the animal for wounds and then moved him to a farm where two other rescued donkeys reside.

“These animals have to be rescued because when they are not able to work anymore, they are killed for their hide and meat,” Jamil said, adding, “each and everything of a dead donkey is sold.”

The group also informed officers at the Kohsar Police Station about the recovery of the donkey and the state it was in.

Police allowed the group to treat the animal, and shift it to a farmhouse located on the outskirts of the capital.

Jamil said that they receive calls about injured cats and dogs, most of those who have suffered a road accident, on a daily basis.

“We receive 10 to 15 cases of injured dogs every day,” he says. In most cases, the volunteers treat these animals and set them free. But sometimes, we keep them at the farm and get them adopted by those who would care for such animals,” he said.

Apart from cats and dogs, Jamil said they have rescued and treated donkeys, mules, kites, foxes, jackals, horses and even snakes.

“There is a need to raise awareness of animal rights. People who are kind to animals are also kind to other people. These things should be included in curricula,” Jamil advocated.

Asked about the process of lodging a complaint with the police, Jamil said that when they went to the Kohsar police station on Tuesday for seeking permission to shift the donkey, they had to first educate the officers there, including the station house officer, about animal rights.

He pointed out that they had rescued two abandoned donkeys from Gulzar-e-Quaid area in Rawalpindi in September last year. The donkeys had suffered broken legs which were filled with maggots. Over 50 donkeys were provided help this year alone.

The incident follows one in Bannu where a dog was shot at. Similarly, earlier in July, a donkey was spray painted with the name of a top politician and beaten up in Karachi. That donkey was rescued but died a few days later owing to its injuries.