By Abdoulie Nyockeh
The Project Manager of Welttierschutzstiftung [WTS] VETS UNITED in The Gambia, Dr. Kebba Daffeh, who’s also the newly designated WTS VETS UNITED Representative in West Africa, has termed education as the most effective tool to improve animal welfare.
According to information obtained from WTG website, VETS UNITED is a joint programme of Welttierschutzgesellschaft (WTG) and Welttierschutzstiftung (WTS) with projects in The Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. As VETS UNITED Project Manager in The Gambia, Dr. Daffeh is responsible for the delivery of Animal Welfare lectures at both the University of The Gambia and at Gambia College. This also includes weekly practical classes with University and College students at the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust Animal Health and Welfare Centre at Makasutu.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with this medium after successfully attending a five-day Animal welfare strategy meeting in Nairobi, Kenya recently, Dr. Daffeh informed that WTS VETS UNITED is a charitable organization whose main focus is promoting animal’s welfare through education.
“We believe that education is the most suitable way to improve animal welfare globally,” he said, adding that the organisation is primarily, to work with the tertiary institutions, thus University of The Gambia and the Gambia College. He described the strategy planning meeting in Nairobi as a forum “a very successfully event” that brought participants all over to talk on the importance of animals welfare and carve the way forward in the best interest of promoting animals welfare in the sub-region.
The forum, which drew participants from Rwanda, Malawi, Uganda, Liberia, Kenya and The Gambia, just to name a few, was to ensure that partners working with WTS come together to brainstorm on the way forward for the improvement of welfare of animals in West Africa .
Dr. Daffeh said the main recommendation that actually emerged from the meeting was actually to make sure that animal welfare is created and education awareness is intensified; noting animal welfare improves the lives and livelihood of communities. He recalled that West Africa, in particular, had brought a subject of interest to have been designated as the representative of the WTS VETS UNITED in West Africa.
The organisation’s senior official in this country noted that, this achievement was in recognition of the work done in this country in terms of Animals welfare, which started around 2015 with a small program that was focusing on training veterinarians for a capacity development program for vet and livestock assistants and students of the University.
He disclosed that today, Gambia has trained more than eight hundred to nine hundred people from both institutions, and most of these people are now graduates and are stationed across The Gambia, in every region of the country. They are playing their quota in terms of improving animals’ welfare in this country.
Dr. Daffeh noted that some of them have formed animals welfare societies in their native villages, while others have some clubs in different schools where they are teaching about the animal’s welfare. He further pointed out the livestock assistants, that is veterinary staff, also take up programs whereby farmers are helped in the treatment of their animals at no cost.
“So, really, animal’s welfare to us is moving in the right direction, in the Gambia,” he vouched. He also commended the efforts made by Gambians and said today, many other countries could come and learn best practices in the Gambia, in terms of animals welfare development.
Dr. Daffeh went on to thank the Department of Livestock and partners for coming up with the new regulation on animal welfare in 2019. Though it’s not yet before the National Assembly, “but we hope that very soon it will be as the Gambia is moving fast”, said him. He avowed that they want to make The Gambia a signing example of animal welfare development in West Africa.
Dr. Daffeh added, “We are sure it will be possible, with hard work, commitment and dedication to improve animals’ welfare.”
