Labourers and their working donkeys in Nepal's brick kilns have been helped to survive the Covid-19 pandemic by The Donkey Sanctuary, working in partnership with Animal Nepal.

More than 200,000 workers, supported by 2,200 working donkeys and mules, work seasonally in Nepal's brick industry every year.

The first Covid lockdown last year was announced at the beginning of the brick kiln season and was imposed immediately, forcing the kilns to close within 48 hours and stranding the workers and donkeys.

The two charities joined forces to provide emergency food and supplies to the donkeys and their owners, which involved getting the Nepalese government's permission to transport the items to the kilns and distribute them.

Packages containing 25 days' worth of equine feed, rice, lentils and basic sanitary items for owner households were distributed to 167 families and 901 donkeys and mules within the Lalitpur, Dhading and Banke districts.

What happened to the donkeys and owners next?

Working donkeys and mules are usually transported back to the city of Nepalgunj, where their owners are based, at the end of the six-month brick kiln season in May or June, before the monsoon rains arrive.

Because of the lockdown, the two charities worked on transporting the animals to Nepalgunj to make sure they were not stranded in brick kilns with little access to food and essential provisions.

As lockdown began to ease, Animal Nepal's Equine Outreach Programme team were able to travel to Nepalgunj and continue carrying out medical checks on donkeys and mules on a one-to-one basis with their owners.

A ground-breaking deal was also struck with the Nepalgunj sub-metropolitan city to provide fresh grazing pasture for brick kiln donkeys and mules during the brick kiln off-season. Securing designated grazing lands helps prevent injuries, traffic accidents and human-equine conflict caused by the animals roaming the streets.

Proud to have helped in a crisis

Rich Cobb, Deputy Director of Global Programmes at The Donkey Sanctuary, said: "The closure of the brick kilns left some of the poorest and most vulnerable donkeys, mules and the communities that depend on them, without the means to feed or look after themselves.

"We are proud that through The Donkey Sanctuary's ongoing work with Animal Nepal, we have been able to respond in this unprecedented time of crisis."

Pramada Shah, Founder and President of Animal Nepal and one of the trustees of The Donkey Sanctuary, added: "Animal Nepal's partnership with The Donkey Sanctuary provided invaluable help to the brick kiln workers impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown.

"We are very grateful that The Donkey Sanctuary was there to help us mitigate the impact of the lockdown, which could have had a devastating outcome for many of the brick kiln workers who were stranded because of it.

"This collaboration has also brought to the fore brand-new shelters, offering working equines a safe, dry place to rest. It has helped educate brick kiln workers on donkey health and welfare, and it has, most importantly, prevented both workers and their animals from going hungry."

Since the intervention in 2020 Nepal has been subject to a second, more devastating, wave of Covid-19, and The Donkey Sanctuary continues to support the brick kiln communities through its partnership with Animal Nepal.