Latest relief efforts in Egypt - update from the field

(April 21st, 2011) Since February, the Brooke has fed and treated horses and donkeys affected by the collapse of tourism in Egypt. In total around 90,000kg of feed has been distributed and over 16,000 veterinary treatments have been carried out in Cairo, Edfu, Aswan and Luxor.

We would like to say thank you to everyone who has made a donation to our appeal so far, which has made it possible for the Brooke to reach so many animals and their owners.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism has stated tourists are returning to Egypt and the industry is slowly recovering. Animal owners are therefore able to start earning an income again and the overall situation for animals has stabilised.

The Brooke has assessed the situation carefully, and decided that the emergency programme would come to an end on 21 April.

Continuing our services

The Brooke will continue to deliver veterinary services and community animal health programmes in Cairo and across Egypt, and support communities to look after their working horses and donkeys in a sustainable way.

We know that some animals remain in a poor state of health, particularly in the area of the Pyramids. This is something that all of us at the Brooke, including our Cairo team, care greatly about and are monitoring the situation closely. We will take further action if the condition of working horses, donkeys and mules deteriorates.

We have started a special six month education programme for owners at the Pyramids to improve welfare. We may also start small scale feed distributions with these organisations, based on the situation and level of need.

In addition, the Brooke continues to run its Responsible Tourism for Animals campaign which encourages tourists to pay a fair price and only use animals that are in good condition.

The Brooke’s programme in Egypt works with nearly 200 communities, reaching 220,000 animals a year, across seven regions: Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Edfu, Alexandria, Mersa Matruh and the Nile Delta.

Check out the photos from our emergency programme on Flickr.