In cities across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, donkeys and mules provide essential urban transport and construction services, often under welfare conditions that cause chronic pain and shortened lifespans.
Urban working donkeys occupy a largely invisible welfare crisis. Their labor enables livelihoods for some of the worlds poorest people, yet they routinely suffer untreated wounds, overwork, dehydration, and painful harness sores. The Donkey Sanctuary and similar organizations have demonstrated that practical welfare improvements — better harness design, owner education, mobile veterinary care — can be implemented at low cost with lasting impact on millions of animals.