The New SPANA Story
Easing the burden of working animals abroad

By Bridget Bouch
SPANA 2000; ISBN 095064501X;
79 pages; $7.00

In the early 1920s Kate Hosali and her daughter, Nina, traveled through remote regions in North Africa, and along the way they observed terrible treatment of working donkeys and mules. Many of the animals had severe wounds on their backs from carrying massive loads and some had cuts from ropes that dug into their flesh. Others had burns on their sides or abdomens that were purposefully inflicted with red-hot irons as a traditional "cure" for ailment. Kate frequently stepped in to help the poor animals, victims of ignorance or outright cruelty.

The women carried the memories of what they had witnessed back with them to England determined to do something to help these hardworking donkeys and mules. Thus, the Society for the Protection of Animals in North Africa (SPANA) was established. SPANA seeks to alleviate the suffering of working pack animals in North and West Africa and the Middle East, including the provision of free veterinary care to the pack animals upon whom the poor families in rural communities depend.

The New SPANA Story details the history of the organization, particularly the heroic work by the Hosali women, and SPANA's current diligent efforts on behalf of donkeys and mules.