The Brooke - The importance of working animals

Working animals form the backbone of many economies in the developing world, supporting countless poor communities where many people experience the chronic effects of poverty.

Far from being displaced by machines, working animals are increasingly relied upon. According to the FAO, there are as many as 90 million equine animals currently in the developing world, and more than half the world's human population now depend upon animal power.

Jai and his younger brother, Om, with Raju, the mule

How do people depend upon their animals?

The people we work with are dependent on their animals in a variety of ways:

haulage - pulling carts with construction materials, including steel girders
load bearing - animals often have to carry extremely heavy loads of bricks or corrugated iron sheets which can cut and maim
tourism - carrying tourists, many of whom weigh far too much for any donkey or mule to carry comfortably
pilgrimages - carrying people, as many as 10,000 a day worldwide, up dizzying paths to shrines

Harsh environments

And those animals are often put to work in some of the world's harshest environments:

vast brick kiln factories - temperatures can reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius in the areas where brick kilns are situated
city streets and slums - animals often have to haul heavy goods through exhaust fume-choked streets or survive amongst rubbish-filled alleyways in urban slums
remote terrain - many animals endure long, difficult journeys in rocky, steep and mountainous terrain while carrying people or goods to their destinations

Difficult terrain in Mardan, Pakistan © Damon Lynch

These areas are where some of the world's poorest people work. People who rely on animals for their livelihoods. People who are placed at greater risk when their animal is unable to work.

What is the Brooke doing to help?

The Brooke works tirelessly to improve the lives working horses, donkeys and mules and, in turn, the lives of those who depend on them to survive.

We do this in a variety of ways:

providing local veterinary services
offering community based advice and training programmes
advising NGOs and government ministries on livelihood programmes with a vet or animal component
carrying out practical research for best solutions (Brooke works with the University of Bristol to do so).

Meet some of the people that have been helped by the Brooke and their animals.