Dog Welfare – Ewaso Lions

Kura’s Pride Just Got a Powerful Boost

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]At Ewaso Lions, through community-led conservation, we have seen how strategic impact happens when people who know their neighbours, understand local concerns, and have earned their trust lead the conversation.

That is exactly what Kura’s Pride is building in Westgate Community Conservancy through the Kura’s Pride Ambassadors.

Meet the Kura’s Pride Ambassadors

Our Kura’s Pride programme has welcomed eight new Ambassadors: Nyati, Nakwatu, Sharon, Nosurai, Meeme, Njuana, Stellah, and Doris. Women drawn from all locations across Westgate Community Conservancy.

These are women engrained in the daily life of their communities. They understand how livestock is important to their communities. They know which families have dogs and cats. They know which households have questions or concerns about their animals. They know how to have the difficult conversations with patience, with trust, and with cultural fluency that no outside team can replicate.

As Kura’s Pride Ambassadors, they accompany our Domestic Animal Mobile Veterinary Unit (MVU) on field vaccination drives across Westgate Community Conservancy, speaking directly with community members about the importance of vaccinations and responsible animal care. Their presence transforms what might feel like a veterinary visit into a community-led conversation that is built on relationship and not instruction.

824 Vaccinations in 4 Days

The impact of this approach showed up clearly in the numbers from a mid-April vaccination drive organised this year across Westgate.

In just four days, the MVU vaccinated 824 dogs and cats against rabies and distemper, a result that reflects not just logistical efficiency but genuine community trust and participation.

Rabies remains one of the leading causes of human death in rural Kenya, and distemper poses serious risks to both domestic animals and wildlife. When animals in pastoral landscapes go unvaccinated, the consequences ripple outward: to livestock, to the predators that share those landscapes, and to the communities that depend on both.

Healthy animals mean healthier communities. Healthier communities mean a landscape where people, livestock, and predators, including lions, have a better chance of coexisting.

The MVU operates through a partnership between Ewaso Lions, the Samburu County Department of Veterinary Services, Animal Care Centre, VetinWild, and the Foundation for International Aid to Animals. This coalition brings together government, NGOs, and specialist veterinary expertise in the service of community-led conservation.

The addition of the Kura’s Pride Ambassadors strengthens that partnership from the ground up, ensuring that the communities being served are not just recipients of veterinary care but active participants in it.

Images by Simatwa Ngachi[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

From Dreams to Reality: Solomon’s Journey to Becoming a Veterinarian

Solomon’s Journey to Becoming a Veterinarian: Click on this video to learn more about his journey.

Solomon’s Journey

“Going to school was not something I had ever dreamed of because no one in my family had gone to school. In the whole family, we are nineteen and I am the only one who went to school. I consider myself as the luckiest one,” Solomon Lenasalia.

Ewaso Lions, through the Jeremy Lucas Education Fund, sponsored Solomon for four years of secondary education. Subsequently, Solomon continued his academic pursuit with Ewaso Lions’ sponsorship, and in 2022, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Resource Conservation at Kenyatta University.

Since 2021, Solomon served as Ewaso Lions’ Kura’s Pride Coordinator, making significant contributions to community engagement in animal welfare and responsible dog ownership. Now he is embarking on the next chapter of his remarkable journey – studying veterinary medicine at Egerton University! We eagerly anticipate witnessing Solomon evolve into the next veterinarian in the Samburu-Isiolo region in the coming years as he completes his education.

Solomon in the village

Solomon assessing an injured donkey

Kura’s Pride Diaries

Kura’s Pride Diaries

The Kura’s Pride team have been exceptionally busy in these past few months, as they work towards their goal of improving domestic animal welfare. This time has been filled with emotional highs and lows, as the team attends to the animals most in need. To give us a window into their world, we take a look at the ‘entry pages’ of the Kura’s Pride diary, as reported by Dr. Jessicah Kurere and Solomon Lenasalia who run the Mobile Veterinary Unit for domestic animals – a regional partnership between VetinWild and Ewaso Lions Kura’s Pride.

23rd May: This is Nkurnkur, one of the many dogs that recovered from Canine Distemper during the outbreak this year. He was so sick that the owner thought he had already passed on. They thankfully reached out to us and we attended to Nkurnkur then. He is so much now better, still gaining back his strength. His resilience to recover is unmatched!

Nkurnkur slowly regains his strength after being treated for Canine Distemper © Ewaso Lions

2nd July: It’s been a busy week with a number of medical emergency interventions. We treated a sheep attacked by a baboon and a camel attacked by a lion. We had to leave our car behind and cross the Ewaso Nyiro river on foot because it was full of water while attending to the camel. We’ve also spayed two female dogs with Transmissible Venereal Tumor and treated three dogs with suspected Canine Distemper. During ambulatory rounds, we are also progressively vaccinating all healthy dog and cats against Rabies and Canine Distemper and issuing the new vaccination cards that look great!

Mama looks through a new vaccination certificate for her dog © Ewaso Lions

Solomon carries medical supplies across the Ewaso Nyiro river © Ewaso Lions

The team examines the injuries sustained by a sheep who was attacked by a baboon © Ewaso Lions

Mobile Veterinary Unit team treats a camel who was attacked by lions © Ewaso Lions

We joined the Lions Kids Camp and taught a session on ‘dog and conservation’.

Dr Jessicah speaks to children at the Lion Kids Camp about domestic animal welfare © Ewaso Lions

3rd July: This is Pilipili. He was at the Lion Kids Camp and had become a good friend to Solomon and I. She is among the three puppies we treated for suspected Parvo Virus in May. They recovered and even stole Solomon’s shoe that day!

The staff at Kid’s Camp noticed when Pilipili became sick suddenly and everyone thought she had contracted Rabies. We are told she came back limping and started wailing, biting things, and vomiting. We considered what everyone said about her, but ruling out rabies, we suspected a scorpion or snake bit her. She was in a lot of pain. But after treating her and staying with her, she is now recovered. She is among our many fighters!

15th September: We’ve been handling a medical emergency today. Mberus from Ngutuk Ongiron was bitten by a puff adder. It is the fourth case of snakebite we have treated in the past three weeks.

We put Mberus on a drip and aggressive treatments to see her out of the woods. We were happy to note Mberus made several attempts to wag her tail before we left; our pup was on the mend.

A few days later, Solomon and Jessicah returned to check on Mberus and posted this:

18th September: Mberus is up and running (literally). All the kids had to help us shout out for her. She had gone out to explore the neighborhood, her much missed adventures!

Today we treated this little puppy. The boys are yet to give him a name. He was infested with cutaneous larval ectoparasites that burrow into the skin, leaving several wounds on his skin. We were however determined to see him recover. We removed all the parasites, treated all his wounds, and gave him medication.

All these healthy dogs are pillars of coexistence. Every healthy dog can warn herders better every day about the presence of wild carnivores, keeping both wildlife and livestock safe. And every cow, camel, and sheep that is saved can keep a family nourished in these trying drought times. An environment free of disease is a more resilient landscape, where coexistence can truly thrive.

Supported by the Wildlife Conservation Network and the Foundation for International Aid to Animals

Kura’s Pride – Big news and huge milestones

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are thrilled to announce that this year, we have completed over 3800 dog and cat vaccinations! The vaccination campaigns we have conducted across the landscape have been an ongoing partnership between Kura’s Pride and a number of amazing partners, supporters, and conservancies who are all working together to achieve our collective vision of stopping disease spread in the landscape and improving animal welfare. Some of our highlights of this year’s vaccinations include:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”8130″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We also produced the first ever Samburu documentary on domestic dog welfare – Ramat Eldein – produced in Samburu language, in concert with the Samburu County Government and partners.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”8168″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”8167″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Kura’s Pride has grown in ways we had never dreamed of. As we began our dog vaccinations, ringfencing an outbreak of canine distemper that had claimed the lives of five endangered wild dogs, we were careful to ask the people living alongside wildlife how they felt we should grow the programme. As pastoral people, dependent on and inextricably linked to their livestock, they identified a gap. Their dogs and cats were benefiting from the vaccination campaigns, but after the vets finished the campaign and went home, they had no support for their domestic animals. After much deliberation, we took a giant step forward. We are very pleased to announce that Ewaso Lions (through Kura’s Pride) has partnered with Vet in Wild, Animal Care Centre, and the Foundation for International Aid to Animals to launch a new domestic animal mobile veterinary unit![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”8129″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”8124″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dr. Jessicah Kurere leads this veterinary unit with the support of Solomon Lenasalia, our first JLEF university graduate, who is our new Kura’s Pride Officer. Our neat mobile unit is fully equipped including a handy operating table where our operations are performed. The unit has only been operational for a few weeks and Jessicah and Solomon hit the ground running. They have already helped camels and donkeys that were injured badly by lions and hyaenas respectively, performed a number of neutering operations, and helped sick dogs. We are so grateful to all our supporters who have helped us to achieve this dream of ours to improve domestic animal welfare, reduce disease spread and provide sterilizations services.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row]