You need to know the truth about the abuse that the world’s donkeys are suffering.
To some these innocent animals are worth more dead than alive. They deserve so much better than this.
We are working tirelessly to create a better world for donkeys, but we can only do it with your help. The world’s donkeys need you to protect them right now.
Donate today
Your kind donation will help protect the world’s donkeys from suffering.
The truth is donkeys are suffering
Suffering donkeys are often hidden from view in cramped filthy pens where they endure a life filled with fear and pain.
In 2021, during our largest and most harrowing UK rescue, more than 70 donkeys were discovered in horrific, filthy conditions, with their welfare in serious jeopardy. Among them were 20 heavily pregnant mares, their helpless foals set to be born into a life of despair.
Left to stand in inches of faeces, mud and wet straw, many of the donkeys’ hooves were hugely overgrown and infected. Some of the donkeys were visibly underweight, a clear sign that they had not been given adequate care and nourishment – particularly the pregnant mares who were lacking the proper nutrients to produce the vital milk their foals would need to survive.
All these donkeys’ lives were in danger without intervention. Following their rescue, we brought the donkeys into our care and our expert teams worked tirelessly to identify the individual needs of each donkey, many of whom needed extra support and treatment.
For many of the donkeys involved, they are living happy and fulfilled lives, while others are still walking that long road to recovery.
The truth is donkeys are being slaughtered for their skins
At least 5.9 million donkeys are slaughtered for their skins every year.
The collagen from donkey skins is used to create ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicine. Due to the enormous demand for ejiao, China’s domestic donkey population has been decimated. The industry is now sourcing skins from around the world causing the collapse of donkey populations across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
With such intense demand, this abhorrent trade often leads to donkeys being taken from low-income communities who wake up to find their donkeys stolen, slaughtered and skinned during the night.
Donkeys caught up in this trade often die in inhumane conditions with many perishing on their way to slaughterhouses. Even the most vulnerable donkeys, including pregnant mares, young foals and the sick and injured, are taken without consideration for their welfare or suffering.
Our plan to end the donkey skin trade is the most significant project we have ever undertaken to protect donkeys around the world.
We are working to expose the crisis, disrupt the trade and eliminate the demand for donkeys and their skins.
The truth is the world's donkeys need you
Join us in our fight to protect precious donkeys around the world.
When you donate, you’ll help us rescue and care for donkeys here in the UK and defend them from cruelty all around the world.
We are working tirelessly to create a better world for donkeys, but we can only do it with your help.
Make a donation
£10 a month can help us work with governments to ban the slaughter and export of donkeys for their skins.
£6 a month can help us to disrupt the skin trade and eliminate the demand for donkeys and their skins.
£4 a month can help us rescue donkeys from suffering and neglect when they are most in need.
£50 can help us shut down the slaughterhouses where so many donkeys suffer terribly in horrendous conditions.
£20 can help deliver first aid kits and training to donkey owners so suffering donkeys can receive vital treatments.
£10 can help pay for feed packed full of essential nutrients aiding the recovery of rescued donkeys.
Find out more about the donkey truth
Millions of donkeys are slaughtered for their skins every year. Learn about the causes, impacts and the campaign to Stop the Slaughter here.
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