We work with animals
Horses, donkeys and mules are sentient beings: they have the capacity for sensing and feeling, including positive emotions such as joy and happiness, as well as pain and loneliness.
Horses at the Dewa equine fair in India
At Brooke, we ensure local service providers and policy makers know that an animal's welfare matters regardless of the function they serve. They are animal workers, not machines, and as such have limitations and needs to be met.
Working equine animals
Horses, donkeys and mules are classified as equine animals.
Equine animals are used for domestic and commercial purposes and so are classified as working animals. They are used to pull carriages and carts, carry packs and for riding. They support people's livelihoods in a wide range of sectors including agriculture, construction, tourism, mining, transportation, cultural ceremonies and household chores.
There are over 100 million working equine animals in the world
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), FAOSTAT 2014
The intrinsic value of working equine animals and the need to end their suffering
Our research shows how widespread and severe their welfare problems are which is why it's our mission to relieve this suffering and create lasting positive change. This change must start with an understanding by owners of their working animal's intrinsic value and the ways in which it suffers.
If you could help ease their suffering...
See also
Glanders, a highly infectious and often fatal disease, is reportedly becoming the biggest health threat to equines working in brick kilns in India.
Thousands of donkeys are being stolen, abused and slaughtered to meet the demand for their hides.
We train animal health professionals such as government and private vets, paravets and community animal health workers, to improve services available for horses and donkeys.
Equine animals are used for domestic and commercial purposes. They work while enduring physical or emotional welfare issues that can go unnoticed and untreated where the skills and resources required to help the animal are not available.
Animal welfare refers to the physical and emotional state of an animal. It is impacted by the environment in which it lives and works, human attitudes and practices, and available resources.
An animal's welfare will be poor if comfort, health and life-sustaining needs are not met.
To make sustainable changes to the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules we must also measure the impact our work is having.
In order to sustainably improve equine welfare we recognise the complex interaction between the equine, the equine owning communities, and the system within which they co-exist.