In the remote town of Geita in northwestern Tanzania, donkeys are used to haul heavy, backbreaking weights in an archaic method of gold mining, causing severe and unnecessary suffering to these gentle creatures.
The ghastly truth is that for every ounce of gold mined in this dusty African region, donkeys are hauling countless TONS of discarded brick and rubble in excruciatingly inhumane conditions.
The animals are forced to work from sunrise in scorching heat, receiving no food, water or rest, under the weight of sacks that must be lifted onto their backs by several people at a time. Even worse, some donkeys have these heavy sacks slung over their necks – the weakest part of their bodies and almost guaranteed to cause them agonizing, lifelong injury. They must then repeatedly struggle up and down steep, uneven embankments under these crushing weights until finally, after an entire day of work, they are left to find their own food and water, and a place to rest overnight.
Donkeys staggering under the weight of rocky gold mining waste endure hours of back-breaking work. Their open, weeping wounds are infested with flies