The builder donkeys of Nablus are ill-cared-for labourers in a building boom in the West Bank of Palestine. Their daily drudgery, amid a frenetic building site full of dust and sparks from angle-grinders, is a world away from the gentle Nativity imagery of donkeys on Christmas cards.They haul back-breaking loads hour after hour, day after day. Some of them endure barbaric treatment and work long shifts without proper food, water or care.
The pitiful procession continues throughout the day with the donkeys picking their way through power cables, rubble and past open lift shafts to deliver their loads. Their hooves regularly slip on the polished marble and then it is on to the gravel-strewn makeshift stairs laden with builder bags draped over their backs as they deliver higher up into the block in the Rafidia district.
These animals may be a necessity, but they deserve better treatment. All we ask is that Palestinian authorities allow animal welfare groups to enforce better treatment of these hard-working donkeys and provide the care they need.
