Approximately 40 million donkeys worldwide provide essential transport and agricultural labour in low- and middle-income countries, yet their welfare is chronically neglected, resulting in widespread pain and premature death.
The welfare of working donkeys sits at the intersection of animal suffering and human poverty. Families who depend on donkeys for income often lack resources for veterinary care, quality feed, or improved harnesses — not from indifference but from economic necessity. This creates a context where welfare improvement requires addressing human livelihoods alongside animal needs. Effective programmes train local farriers, provide low-cost harness improvements, build community animal health worker capacity, and link animal welfare to owner productivity — healthy donkeys work longer and more effectively. The suffering involved is real and large-scale: lameness in particular causes chronic pain that pervades working animals' entire lives.