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As “beasts of the burden,” donkeys have played a fundamental role in our society since as far back as 4000 BC – helping us with menial tasks in some of the most challenging terrains. But these spirited and intelligent long-eared equines do not receive the appreciation that they deserve. Instead, donkeys are in crisis all around the world – suffering from abuse, neglect and, worst of all, slaughter at the hands of the horrific Chinese donkey skin trade. This insatiable industry wipes out hundreds of thousands of donkeys every year just so that their skins can be used for a cosmetic called ejiao (pronounced “uh-jee-ow”), which has no proven benefit whatsoever. The animals are bludgeoned to death and sometimes even skinned alive. At the current level of slaughter, donkeys could be extinct within the next four years…
Network for Animals supports donkeys rescued from the donkey skin trade and from neglect and abuse in the United Kingdom, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Israel and Greece. Through your support, we have been able to help provide mistreated donkeys with much-needed food, medical treatment, shelter and love.
In Kenya, we exposed a situation at a slaughterhouse where 2000 donkeys a month were killed for their skins, which were then exported to China. Thanks in part to our efforts to raise awareness about the situation, the donkey skin trade has now been banned in Kenya.
According to the UK Donkey Sanctuary’s report “Under the Skin”, China demands a massive 10 million donkey skins every year. Yet there are only 44 million donkeys in the world. This means that within the next four years, donkeys could be extinct.
The global purchase of donkeys and donkey skins is a savage operation run by organized Chinese syndicates who show no mercy for animals, or people that get in their way. They often descend on rural villages and steal donkeys, or force owners to sell at giveaway prices, then slaughter the animals in makeshift abattoirs.
On the Greek island of Santorini, we expose horrific cruelty inflicted on donkeys every day in the peak of the summer. Donkeys and mules are forced to carry tourists up and down a 1300-foot (400 meter) high cliff all day in the baking sun without shade, food or water.
Donkey owners say if they provided food, the donkeys would defecate and soil the path, upsetting tourists.
Some donkeys have open wounds, others have crude wire muzzles over their mouths to prevent them from eating. The donkeys’ working hours are supposed to be regulated but the authorities have done nothing because of the money donkey-owners (called “muleteers”) rake in from visitors.
In 2018, the municipal authorities promised to improve working conditions for the donkeys by providing drinking troughs at points on the cliff path. This did not happen. When our team visited the island again in July 2019, they were attacked and whipped by the donkey owners. The police did nothing, saying they were on lunch.
We support the small Santorini Animal Welfare Association (SAWA) animal shelter on the island which rescues and cares for 14 aged donkeys who will live out their final years in peace there. SAWA also lobbies local authorities to act against the cruelty inflicted on donkeys. We will continue to press for a long-term solution to the problem of donkey exploitation on Santorini.
Network for Animals supports the Starting Over Sanctuary (SOS), a safe haven for neglected donkeys situated in the Moshav Herut region of central Israel. Thanks to our supporters, we are in a position to provide SOS with consistent monthly donations. The funds go directly towards the sanctuary’s work rescuing and rehabilitating numerous donkeys, horses and other animals who find themselves in challenging and abusive situations across Israel. One of SOS’s more recent achievements involves Dash, a foal who required expert medical care following brutal treatment by Bedouin children in the West Bank. Read more about his success story here: https://networkforanimals.org/news/dash-reunited-with-mother/
In 2017, we helped save 236 donkeys and 30 horses from the Chinese donkey skin trade. They found a home at the Karoo Donkey Sanctuary (KDS) in Plettenberg Bay, where we funded food and medical treatment. Many of the donkeys have been rehomed but we continue to support 100. We also financed the relocation of 50 donkeys rescued from the Chinese skin trade who now live out their days at the Rest Your Ass (RYA) sanctuary in South Africa’s Limpopo province.
An extensive undercover investigation by Network for Animals in June 2021 revealed the enormous scale and utter cruelty of the Chinese donkey skin trade in Africa. The Chinese use donkey skins to make a cosmetic called ejiao (pronounced “uh-jee-ow”), a pointless waste that has never been proven to work, and which kills millions of donkeys annually.
In Tanzania, we sent a team to investigate and chronicle illegal slaughtering practices at a Chinese-run donkey slaughterhouse in the north of the Shinyanga region. What we found directly opposed the regulations in place for animal welfare and humane slaughter. Tens of thousands of donkeys were being killed each month, and rather than giving them the compassion of a gentle, pain-free death, slaughterers were cruelly bludgeoning them with hammers.
Together with our partner, the Arusha Society for the Protection of Animals (ASPA), Network for Animals successfully lobbied the Tanzanian government to shut down the abattoir. This was a colossal victory for donkey welfare. In pursuit of more long-term solutions, we are also financing an educational outreach program to inform donkey owners of the proper care for donkeys.
In Zimbabwe, we work with MARES, a donkey sanctuary in Bulawayo that combats cruelty, rescues donkeys, and fights to end the donkey skin trade. Zimbabwe is a bankrupt state with so very few medicines available for animals and no money to buy them with. We provide food and veterinary treatment for all the animals.
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