Donkeys provide critical support to millions of people in developing countries, yet often suffer from overwork, injuries, and lack of veterinary care. Improving their welfare improves human lives too.
Working donkey welfare is inseparable from the welfare of the communities who depend on them. Where a donkey is sick or injured, a family may lose its primary means of transport, water collection, and agricultural work. This means that animal welfare work with working donkeys has simultaneous benefits for human wellbeing - particularly for women and children who bear the burden when animals cannot work. Community-based approaches that build local veterinary capacity and harness-making skills create sustainable welfare improvements that enforcement-based approaches cannot achieve.