An estimated 40 million donkeys globally provide essential work in low-income countries, with working conditions ranging from adequate to severely welfare-compromising.
Working donkeys support millions of families in low-income countries with no welfare safety net for either animal or owner. When a donkey is too injured or ill to work, families face immediate economic crisis - creating perverse incentives to push sick animals past their limits. The welfare problems compound: harness wounds develop from poorly fitted equipment, overloading causes musculoskeletal stress, and veterinary care is often absent. Yet this suffering is largely preventable through simple interventions: better harness design, access to trained community animal health workers, and education about donkey health indicators. International working animal welfare organizations make enormous impact per dollar spent and represent high-value giving opportunities for those who care about animal welfare.