Owner’s recognition of sentience improves welfare of donkeys in challenging working environment

Working donkeys (Equus asinus) support human living standards globally. However, there is little information on the effect of human perceptions of sentience (ability to feel pain and to have positive and negative emotions) on their welfare. We interviewed donkey owners (n = 332) in Pakistan to determine the relationship between human perspectives of donkey emotions, the ability to feel pain, and working practices that could impact welfare. The majority of owners used padding under the saddle [n=211; 63.6%; 95% CI (58.3% - 68.9%)] and provided access to food [n=213; 64.2%; 95% CI (58.9% – 69.3%)] and water (n=195; 58.7%; 95% CI (53.4% - 64.1%)] during the working day. Two-thirds of owners reported load-associated injuries during their donkey’s life (65.3% (95% CI 60.2% - 70.5%)), of which 27.7% (n=92; 95% CI 22.8% - 32.5%) were wounds, 20.5% (n=68; 95% CI 16.1% - 24.8%) were lameness, and 7.2% (n=24; 95% CI 4.4% - 10.0%) were back pain. In total, 81.3% (95% CI 77.1% - 85.5%; n=270) of owners believed that their donkeys felt pain, and 70% (95% CI 65.2% - 75.1%; n= 233) believed that their donkeys had emotions. We used Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) to understand the relationship between owners’ recognition of emotions and pain in donkeys and how they worked with the animals. The variance explained by Dimension One and Dimension Two was 45.89% and 22.09%, respectively. The MCA factor map revealed two clusters, named positive and negative ones. The positive cluster included owner’s recognition of donkey pain and emotions, the availability of food and water, use of padding under the saddle, the absence of injuries, and a reported willingness to follow potential loading guidelines. The negative cluster represented practices that did not benefit donkey welfare, such as using saddles without padding and a lack of food and water during work. The presence of injuries, owners not recognizing that donkeys feel pain and emotion along with a reported unwillingness to follow potential loading guidelines were also found in the negative cluster. We show that owners who recognized sentience in their donkeys were more likely to work in a manner that is good for welfare. The ability of owners to identify sentience, along with their willingness to follow guidelines, are very important factors for better donkey welfare even in very challenging working environments.