International teams give a voice to the silent partner

By Marianne Steele , CEO

The bond between humans and donkeys stretches back over millennia, but in a world where climate and conflict are pushing people to the very edges of civilisation, donkeys are more vital today than they have ever been.

Recently, The Donkey Sanctuary's teams from all over the world gathered for the first time post-covid, here at our headquarters in East Devon.

To anyone who has ever wondered or questioned why we care so much about donkeys, the answer was there in the stories, the anecdotes, the partnerships and the projects. We shared and we listened and one truth was undeniable: the world needs donkeys.

For too long, donkeys and mules have been hidden in plain sight. They are the silent partner, a lifeline in some of the world's most inaccessible places where they fetch water, haul bricks, till fields and carry loads up high-altitude and precarious mountain tracks.

Images of crowded refugee camps, natural disaster sites and drought ravaged landscapes are, sadly, all too familiar. Look again, and in many of these scenes you will see one animal who features more than any other. The donkey.

In our tumultuous world, a donkey is a steadfast companion. Strong, loyal and resilient; they are much more than a working animal to those that depend on them. We should not mistake a lack of resources for a lack of care. This was clear in the accounts we heard from our teams and partners who work in some of the most challenging environments on earth, in places as far flung as Kenya, Mexico and the Caribbean, where they help people care for their beloved animals.

Improving the welfare of donkeys and mules is essential, not only because these sensitive and intelligent animals deserve our kindness and respect, but because an animal who is cared for will live longer and healthier, and be better able to support their community.

In its broadest terms, One Welfare - an extension of the idea of One Health - states that animal welfare depends on and influences human welfare and environmental stability.?As a concept it is rightly gaining traction among NGOs, policy-makers and government, and it is evidenced in the work we do with our trusted partners.

All over the world, donkeys - and the humans that rely on them - face a huge range of challenges but some common threads ran through the presentations we saw during our week together. Poverty, climate change and gender inequality all pose significant threats to humanity, and are keenly felt in some of the harshest environments on earth. Here, donkeys are a lifeline, a vital companion in adverse conditions, but they are not immune to these threats themselves.

Poverty means there are often not enough resources to provide adequate vet care, feed or shelter for donkeys. It also makes communities more vulnerable to climate change - people are forced by flood or famine to the places where both human and donkey welfare is threatened and their interdependence underlined. Likewise, there is a strong correlation between poverty and gender disparity and in many communities, women and girls rely heavily on donkeys because without them, they would be unable to go to school or participate at home.

While the conditions of poverty are gruelling for both humans and donkeys, the increasing wealth of some populations poses a threat in itself. The escalating demand in China for luxury products containing ejiao, made from the skins of donkeys, has fuelled a rise in trafficking and theft of donkeys from the communities, threatening their population in countries that depend on them.

The importance of donkeys is widely understood in parts of the world where they are needed most. It is our job, as the internationally recognised donkey welfare charity, to ensure the rest of the world appreciates it too. After an inspiring, humbling and, at times, deeply moving week together, we are more committed than ever to our mission to improve the lives of donkeys every day.

We will do so through on-the-ground projects, such as our partnerships with Women and Land in Zimbabwe and Action Aid in Ghana, by making representations to ensure the unique value of donkeys and mules is enshrined in the language of the UN, and by campaigning to bring an end to the horrific donkey skin trade. Donkeys remain in peril and our work is more important than ever.

We will not shy away from helping donkeys in some of the most treacherous environments on earth. In places such as Afghanistan, we will work with our partners to reach them because experience tells us it is sometimes those animals who are hardest to reach who are needed the most.

What became clear this week is that The Donkey Sanctuary is a concept and not a place. Though we gathered here, in the rolling hills of East Devon, our focus was on the wider world, and the very real difference we can make when we work together toward a vision of a world where every donkey has a good quality of life, wherever they may be.