After collecting and analyzing five years' worth of data on the welfare of working equids in developing countries, researchers have identified some factors associated with potential welfare issues and means of intervening and improving the welfare of the most susceptible animals can now be devised.

Since more than 85% of the world's equids (estimated at 94 million) live in developing countries where they are used for work, and because there are few studies looking at how different types of work affect these animals' welfare, researchers sought to identify environments with vulnerable animals and subsequently initiate appropriate interventions to improve welfare.

"We collected behavioral and physical data from 5,481 donkeys, 4,504 horses, and 858 mules working in such areas as Egypt, Jordan, India, Kenya, Pakistan, The Gambia, and Guatemala," explained Charlotte Burn, BA (Oxon), MSc, D.Phil., on behalf of her colleagues from Clinical Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol, together with the Brooke Hospital for Animals. "This included data regarding age, sex, work-type, aggression, apathy, body condition, surface parasites, fecal soiling, skin and foot lesions, gait abnormalities, and tendon or joint swelling