Dr
Kebba Daffeh, a seasoned veterinarian, said as far as The Gambia is concerned
“we are on a sound footing to making sure that animal welfare education is
provided at the level of both the university and the Gambia College.
He
made this remark while presenting a paper centred on the situation of animal
welfare in The Gambia during the celebration of World Animal Day held at the
West Coast Region governor’s office in Brikama.
Dr
Daffeh, who doubles as the adviser to UTG/Gambia College, animal welfare advocates expressed delight to
be associated with the important event geared towards addressing the welfare of
animals.
Dr
Daffeh spoke briefly on animal welfare itself, saying World Animal Welfare Day
is a global day which is a very important event worldwide.
He
added that the first World Animal Welfare Day was celebrated in 1931, in Florence, Italy, at the conference of ecologists, when they gathered together
and talked about endangered animal species.
He
said they decided to set aside the day for the world to commemorate animal
welfare.
He
said animal welfare day is all about making sure the school children, the
general public and everyone is taken on board and sensitised about the role of
animals in our life and society, the good that animals play in our life, and
the potential of animals as regards their contribution to the socioeconomic
development of The Gambia.
He
said there is generally low level of awareness about animal welfare, and “you
can attribute this to a number of reasons” among which is the fact that “most
of our farmers are not literate”, therefore they need a lot of support and
sensitization in terms of messages that will get to them.
He
added: “Also more importantly at the level of the Department of Livestock
Service, there is generally inadequate technical skills and ability about
animal welfare.
“This
is so because at the level of the University of The Gambia and the college
there is no animal welfare education. I am glad to announce that this year’s
semester is the first time in the university and the college to have animal
welfare education introduced into the curriculum and thanks to the support
given by the WTG vet united a Germany registered charity in partnership with the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust