Global demand for ejiao — a traditional Chinese medicine product made from boiled donkey hides — has triggered a welfare crisis affecting millions of donkeys worldwide.
The ejiao trade causes suffering at multiple levels: the donkeys slaughtered for their skins, many of them working animals essential to poor families, experience theft, fear, and inhumane slaughter. Long-distance transport to abattoirs without adequate food, water, or rest is common. The communities that depend on these animals face devastating economic harm when their animals are stolen. The trade is largely opaque and poorly regulated, making welfare oversight virtually impossible. The scale — millions of animals annually — makes this one of the most significant and growing animal welfare crises globally. Banning the trade and supporting alternative livelihoods for communities dependent on donkeys are the most direct welfare interventions.