Egypt

The Brooke Hospital for Animals Egypt’s mission is to realise a sustainable improvement in the animal welfare for the working equines in its area of operation.

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About

At a glance

There are approximately 1.7 million working equines in Egypt, according to the latest FAO statistics.
Working horses, donkeys and mules carry out a wide range of tasks, including transporting passengers, goods with carts in urban areas, and building materials, such as metals, cement, and bricks in the brick factories.
They are also used for riding in rural and tourist areas, and work in the vast agricultural lands.
The equines carry top-heavy loads, in the punishing heat, on dusty roads and in the fields to earn a meager income for the hard-pressed owners. And the hard work takes its tolls.
Brooke Egypt provides veterinary treatments through five static clinics and 25 mobile clinics, reaching approximately 220,000 working horses, donkeys and mules.
The long term strategy is to create behavioural change of animal owners, users and other stakeholders with regard to animal welfare – raising awareness through school visits, partnering with universities, working with rural guides, and a wide range of NGOs.

Take a closer look

The Brooke Hospital for Animals Egypt’s (BHA-Egypt) mission is to realise a sustainable improvement in the animal welfare for the working equines in its area of operation. And by helping the animals, BHA-Egypt is indirectly helping the local animal owners and users who for their livelihood fully depend on these working equines.

To achieve this mission, Brooke Hospital for Animals Egypt:

provides free veterinary service in static clinics and with mobile clinics to alleviate the suffering of working equines
raises awareness of animals owners and users with regard to equine welfare
builds the capacity of the local service providers (farriers, saddle makers etc.).

The dedicated BHA-Egypt veterinary and educational teams provide good quality veterinary care and use effective educational methods with the aim to let the working animals live without pain, hunger or fear and to give them the freedom to express natural behaviour.

The head office and main clinic of Brooke Hospital for Animals Egypt is still situated today on the location of Dorothy Brooke’s hospital for old war horses. Brooke Hospital Egypt treats around 160,000 horses, donkeys and mules each year, but the need is still enormous. Of the 1.7 million working horses, donkeys and mules in Egypt, there are still many regions where the help of BHA-Egypt teams is much needed.

Find out more about our work

Visit The Brooke Hospital for Animals Egypt website for more information and contact details.

Our work

Direct veterinary aid, in static clinics and with mobile clinics

Brooke Hospital for Animals Egypt has five static clinics, in Cairo (1934), Alexandria (1961), Edfu (1992), Aswan (1998) and Mersa Matrouh (2000) and it has an office in Mansoura (2005), which is the station for three mobile clinics.

In addition to the static clinics BHA-Egypt has 28 mobile veterinary teams, which go out on field visits on a daily basis to the animals in their working environment and to more distant locations where working animals need help. Each mobile team can examine and treat up to 60 animals per day. Brooke Hospital Egypt treats around 160,000 horses, donkeys and mules each year.

Raising the awareness of animal owners, users and other stakeholders

Education is a crucial aspect of the work of BHA-Egypt. It also plays a key role in the prevention of some of health issues According to Brooke-Egypt’s recent estimates there are 222,000 working equines living in BHA-Egypt’s areas of operation. These animals need to rest regularly in the shade, drink water and get proper food and have access to free veterinary treatment. Through its educational programme BHA-Egypt spreads the message of animal welfare among the principle stakeholders. Education and awareness sessions, either to individuals or for groups, are organised for the owners and users in the equine owning communities. Special training sessions are organised for local service providers (farriers, saddle makers etc.).

Educating women through 'Rural guides activities'

The rural guides are local women who are well established in their communities, and who have access to most of the families in their villages. They are effectively delivering our animal welfare messages. The BHA Egypt field teams, especially in Edfu and Aswan, collaborate with rural guides to ensure the messages on animal welfare reach the women in the households, who are responsible for the animals during stabling time after the long work days.

Spreading the lessons on the importance of animal welfare through illiteracy classes

BHA Egypt developed an animal welfare syllabus which is used for adult education, in cooperation with the Governmental Adult Illiteracy Eradication program. The BHA adult illiteracy curriculum was first tested in Aswan region, after proving successful; the approach was extended to Edfu, Alexandria and Matrouh.

Educating children

In the animal owning communities, children are today’s users and tomorrow’s owners. Children are working at building terrains and on agricultural fields, and they drive their horse or donkey driven carts amongst the heavy traffic of Egypt’s cities. The BHA-Egypt program is focusing on those children with education and awareness sessions. School visits are a successful way to change the children’s attitude with regard to animals and to build their knowledge, using simple and practical curriculums. Also, writing and drawing competitions are organised to motivate the children to give their animals the proper care and attention.

Best donkey/best horse competitions

BHA-Egypt also encourages proper animal care through positive initiatives, like the Healthy Donkey/Horse Good Owner Competitions. Gradually the owners come to realise that it is in their own interest to care for their animals in the ways we advise. Evidence of our success can be seen in the improved condition of draught animals in the areas in which we operate. Constant attention is paid to effectively measure the impact of our work.

Brooke's President, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, visiting Brooke Hospital for Animals, Egypt, November 2021