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Improving working equine welfare in ‘hard-win’ situations, where gains are difficult, expensive or marginal

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  • Joy Pritchard
  • Melissa Upjohn
  • Tamsin Hirson

Abstract

Purpose: Brooke is a non-government organisation with working equine welfare programmes across Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2014, staff from ten country programmes were asked to identify ‘no-win’ situations (subsequently reframed as ‘hard-wins’)—where improving equine welfare is proving difficult, expensive and/or marginal—in order to inform strategic decisions on how to approach, manage and mitigate for such situations. Methods: The Delphi-type consultation process had three phases. Round 1 posed five questions in the form of a workshop, survey and semi-structured interviews. Round 2 re-presented key themes and sense-checked initial conclusions. Round 3 reviewed the nature and prevalence of hard-win situations at an international meeting of all participants. Results: Reasons given for hard-win situations included: no economic or social benefit from caring for working animals; poor resource availability; lack of empathy for working equids or their owners among wider stakeholders; deep-seated social issues, such as addiction or illegal working; areas with a high animal turnover or migratory human population; lack of community cooperation or cohesion; unsafe areas where welfare interventions cannot be adequately supported. Participants estimated the prevalence of hard-win situations as 40–70% of their work. They suggested some current ways of working that may be contributing to the problem, and opportunities to tackle hard-wins more effectively. Conclusion and animal welfare implications: Respondents agreed that if equine welfare improvements are to span generations of animals, interventions cannot rely on relatively simple, technical knowledge-transfer strategies and quick-wins alone. Programmes need to be more flexible and iterative and less risk-averse in their approaches to embedding good equine welfare practices in all relevant actors. Consultation recommendations informed development of Brooke’s new global strategy, a revised organisational structure and redefinition of roles and responsibilities to streamline ways to approach hard-wins in the complex environments and socio-economic contexts in which working equids are found.

Suggested Citation

  • Joy Pritchard & Melissa Upjohn & Tamsin Hirson, 2018. "Improving working equine welfare in ‘hard-win’ situations, where gains are difficult, expensive or marginal," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0191950
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191950
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Geiger, Martha & Hockenhull, J. & Buller, H. & Jemal Kedir, M. & Tefera Engida, G. & Getachew, M. & Burden, FA. & Whay, HR., 2021. "Comparison of the socio-economic value and welfare of working donkeys in rural and urban Ethiopia," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110875, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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