Leading international animal welfare charity Brooke was in France last week to attend an event and renew its commitment to protecting donkeys from the African skin trade.
Brooke, together with its partners in the International Coalition for Working Equids (ICWE) and the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), met on Monday 26 May 2025 in Paris at an official side event for the World Organisation for Animal Health’s (WOAH) 92nd General Session.
The event in Paris renewed partnerships and the groups commitment to preserving the continent’s donkeys, who are threatened by a trade which slaughters them for their skins.
The demand for donkey skin has grown alarmingly in recent years due to the popularity of ejiao, a gelatin product used in traditional Chinese medicine and commonly found in cosmetics, which is obtained from boiling donkey skin.
Millions being killed
Almost six million donkeys are being killed each year to meet the demand for ejiao.
In 2021, the Ejiao Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives to ban the sale and trade of ejiao in the US, which Brooke USA is lobbying to be implemented. Animal welfare groups including Brooke USA Foundation gathered outside Amazon’s headquarters in Virginia last October to deliver a petition of over 370,000 signatures to protest its sales of donkey skin products.
In February 2024, thanks to lobbying from Brooke and other animal welfare organisations, the African Union banned the donkey skin trade across their continent.
“The ongoing threat to donkey populations from the illegal skin trade is an urgent crisis that requires immediate action,” said Chris Wainwright, ceo of Brooke.
“At Brooke, we stand firm in our commitment to protect these incredible animals, who are essential to the survival of so many.
“We must unite globally to end this exploitation and secure a future where donkeys are valued and safeguarded, for generations to come.”
Image © Brooke.
