As 2021 draws to a close, the CEO of working equine charity Brooke has reflected on the organisation’s successes over the last 12 months.

Chris Wainwright joined the charity this time last year, and said he continued to be inspired by the way his colleagues around the world have adapted to ensure working horses, donkeys and mules and communities continue to receive the support they need.

Following the recent launch of Brooke’s 2020/21 Annual Report, Mr Wainwright highlighted some of the ways Brooke has been delivering sustainable change, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Reaching 1.6 million working equines

This year, 1.6 million working horses, donkeys and mules benefited from activities delivered by Brooke.

As well as this, more animals benefitted from the charity’s international policy work to improve global animal health and welfare.

“When the world shut down in spring 2020 and local lockdowns stopped Brooke’s teams from visiting communities, we quickly learnt to adapt and innovate,” said Mr Wainwright.

“Rather than put projects on hold, such as the training and mentoring of paravets, we used technology to continue giving support.

“Through collaboration with governments around the world, we were also able to achieve ‘essential worker’ status for vets and animal health providers in many countries so that animals would not suffer.

“Throughout the pandemic, our teams have also worked to ensure that communities receive food and essential supplies when their livelihoods have been impacted by restrictions.”

Farriery school launched

In February this year, Brooke West Africa welcomed the first ever cohort of students to its new farriery school.

A first outside of Europe and North America, young people in Senegal can now train for a new accredited certification in farriery, ensuring better hoof care for working animals and new skilled jobs for future generations.

Moussa was among those joining the training this year.

“I have many dreams and hopes for this training because I would like to do this job alongside Brooke until I retire,” he said. “I want to help them in their mission by taking good care of horses.”

This year, Brooke, alongside nine partners, launched the Action for Animal Health coalition during the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) General Assembly.

They called on governments and international agencies to invest in animal health via increased access to veterinary medicines and vaccines, stronger disease surveillance and adequate training for veterinary professionals around the world.

“None of this would be possible without the amazing support our supporters,” added Mr Wainwright.

“As we enter 2022, we are embarking on our new three year Global Strategy, which will see us going even further in our mission to relieve the immediate suffering of working animals today and create a life worth living for future generations.”

Main image: Veterinary inspection of a donkey, Pakistan (Credit – Brooke, Freya Downson)

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