The Brooke - Better life now for animals

Providing immediate relief

Horses, donkeys and mules working in poor places overseas face very tough lives. Lives all too often made unbearable by preventable sickness or injury.

Relief from pain is always our first priority.

Our dedicated teams offer free treatment to sick or injured working horses, donkeys or mules, in the poor communities where we work.

Who treats the animals?

Headed by a vet, at least one assistant vet, a driver and a local community animal health worker, every member of the team can help to treat animals in pain and distress.

Our teams live locally but they are mobile because the districts in which they work often cover remote and difficult landscapes - making it hard for people to get to where their animal may be treated.

Brooke mobile teams travel to where the need is greatest to relieve the suffering of working horses and donkeys

However, it's not just about us treating animals. Brooke teams will involve either the owner or other local people in providing first aid to their animals. And we work with local government and private vets to pass on specialist knowledge and skills.

By training others, the Brooke makes sure that animals can have quicker treatment locally and minor problems don't become major conditions.

Why is quick treatment important?

After treating any pain and discomfort, our teams will tackle the causes. These are some of the more common causes our teams encounter:

They can make working life unbearable for animals and sometimes develop into life-threatening situations - an animal may stop eating and drinking and, sadly, sometimes die.

By addressing problems as early as possible, our teams can prevent animals suffering.

Working for a better future

Our work does not end with any veterinary treatment - of equal importance is the preventive action we take such as protecting horses and donkeys from parasites like worms or diseases like tetanus.

The preventive work we do also takes the form of sharing our specialist knowledge with communities and working with children. To find out more about this work, read a better future for animals.

A community meeting with owners © Brooke