Approximately 40 million working donkeys, horses, and mules worldwide face severe welfare challenges including overwork, injuries, and lack of veterinary care in low-income countries.
Working donkeys and horses in low-income countries face welfare challenges that are deeply embedded in poverty — owners who cannot afford veterinary care, feed shortages, and overwork driven by economic desperation rather than cruelty. Welfare improvement programmes that take an integrated approach — combining veterinary care with income support, harness design improvement, and community education — show better outcomes than punitive or enforcement-only interventions. The relationship between working animal welfare and human welfare is direct: livelihoods and animal welfare are intertwined, and approach must account for both.