Donkeys are working animals for hundreds of millions of people in developing countries and face severe welfare challenges that are systematically underaddressed compared to horses.
Donkey welfare is one of the most neglected domains in animal welfare despite the vast scale of working donkey populations and the depth of suffering they experience. The combination of overwork, inadequate nutrition, untreated injuries, and poor harness fit creates chronic welfare compromise for animals whose stoic pain expression means suffering often goes unnoticed until conditions are severe. The communities that depend on donkeys often lack access to veterinary care and may not have knowledge of basic welfare management. Outreach programs from Brooke and The Donkey Sanctuary have demonstrated that targeted veterinary training and community education produce meaningful welfare improvements — but coverage remains a fraction of global need. The ejiao crisis adds an acute dimension to chronic working donkey welfare concerns, threatening both individual animals and the livelihoods of communities.