The Donkey Sanctuary regularly publishes reports on the donkey skin trade based on findings from investigative work.

Donkeys in Global Trade: Wildlife Crime, Welfare, Biosecurity, and the Impact on Women (2024)

This briefing document contains all the necessary background on the donkey skin trade and the implications it has on donkey welfare and other key areas such as the impact on women and communities. It also contains clear and comprehensive recommendations for how industrial and Government leaders can help end the brutal skin trade.

The Global Trade in Donkey Skins: A Ticking Time Bomb - Biosecurity Risks and Implications for Human and Animal Health on a Global Scale (2022)

This report, the second in the Ticking time bomb series, delves further into the biosecurity risks associated with the global trade in donkey skins and demonstrates how the trade is putting people and animals at unnecessary and unacceptable risk of infectious diseases. The trade in donkey skins presents an inherent risk to human and animal health, and to global One Health, One Welfare efforts, and this risk is increased by the opportunistic, largely unregulated, and often illegal nature of many aspects of the trade.

Myths or Money? Challenges and Implications of Donkey Farming (2022)

This report looks at the challenges and implications of farming a species that is not well suited to intensive farming situations, and answers the question if donkey farming is an economically viable solution to the shortage in supply of donkey skins.

The Global Trade in Donkey Skins: A Ticking Time Bomb - The Donkey Skin Trade as a Trojan Horse for Wildlife Trafficking (2022)

This latest report reveals the size and scale of the illegal online donkey skin trade and uncovers how organised crime is facilitating the trafficking of donkey skins to satisfy demand for ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicine.

Cellular Agriculture: The Case for Transition Towards a Humane, Sustainable and Safe Future (2021)

In 2021, we contacted two major ejiao producers to present an alternative solution for securing a humane supply of donkey collagen, known as cellular agriculture or 'lab-grown' collagen. We presented them with a report putting forward the case for transition.

Under the Skin (2017)

We published our first Under the Skin report in 2017, which was made available in nine languages to help tackle donkey welfare challenges worldwide. This first report on the donkey skin trade revealed the shocking scale of the global trade and its race to keep up with an ever-growing demand for the ejiao.

Further reading

Our research portal contains peer-reviewed academic papers that look at the donkey skin trade and related issues.