An estimated 200 million donkeys, mules, and horses work in agriculture and transport in low-income countries, often under conditions causing significant welfare harm. Supporting their welfare improves both animal lives and human livelihoods.
Working equid welfare in low-income countries involves complex interactions between animal suffering, owner poverty, and cultural norms. Animals in poor welfare typically work until they can no longer function, dying in harness or being abandoned. Harness sores cause chronic pain that prevents animals from working efficiently, directly harming the livelihoods of dependent families. Lameness from unmanaged hoof problems causes pain and loss of working capacity. The strong alignment between working animal welfare and owner livelihood makes welfare interventions economically rational as well as ethically justified. Community-based equine welfare programmes combining veterinary services, farriery training, and harness design have demonstrated sustained welfare improvements at low cost.